Denise Richards Recalls Losing Out on RaunchyShowgirlsRole Early in Her Career: 'Probably a Blessing'

Mar. 15, 2025

Denise Richards; Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls.Photo:SGranitz/WireImage; Murray Close/Mgm/Ua/Kobal/Shutterstock

SGranitz/WireImage; Murray Close/Mgm/Ua/Kobal/Shutterstock

Denise Richardsisn’t heartbroken over not being cast inShowgirls.

She quickly quipped, “Which is probably a blessing,” referring to Verhoeven’s badly reviewed NC-17–rated shocker that starredElizabeth Berkleyas a woman with a mysterious past who arrives in Las Vegas with a dream of becoming a top showgirl on the Strip.

“I think that’s why he brought me in to audition forStarship,” Richards continued. “It was right before.”

Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls.Murray Close/Sygma/Sygma via Getty

Murray Close/Sygma/Sygma via Getty

WhenShowgirlscame out in the ’90s, the explicit thriller and Berkley’s performance faced criticism, which contributed to disappointing box office numbers.

“Of course, it was disappointing that it didn’t do well, but there was so much cruelty around it,” sherecalled to PEOPLE in 2020. “I was bullied. And I didn’t understand why I was being blamed. The job as an actor is to fulfill the vision of the director. And I did everything I was supposed to do.”

Disappointingly for the young Berkley, “no one associated with the film spoke up on my behalf to protect me,” she claimed. “I was left out in the cold and I was a pariah in the industry I had worked so hard for.”

Casper Van Dien and Denise Richards at New York Comic Con.Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

Two years afterShowgirl’s release, Verhoeven returned to theaters withStarship Troopers, which also featured nudity via the film’s infamous co-ed shower sequence, on top of a lot of R-rated bug-squashing violence.

Richards portrayed Carmen Ibanez, a high school student who over the course of the film becomes a spaceship captain when Earth goes to war against a race of giant alien insects.

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TriStar Pictures/Everett

The film was critically more well-received thanShowgirlsbut failed to connect with moviegoers in a big way at the time, making only $55 million at the domestic box office after costing more than $100 million to produce.

Asked for the “first thing that comes to mind” when looking back on the making ofStarship Troopers, Richards' former costar Brown quickly replied, “Just how great it was … and what a lousy reception it got.”

“I had a bet with a guy that worked for[Independence Daydirector] Roland Emmerich and he said, ‘Your movie’s not going to make $60 million.’ I said, ‘Are you kidding me? Of course it is! It’s Paul Verhoeven. It’s got great special effects and all that’ — and, sure enough, he won. Nobody remembers the movie that we were betting would make more. Everybody remembersthismovie.”

source: people.com