The 'Starship Troopers' star lost out to Elizabeth Berkley for the part of Nomi in 'Showgirls'
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Densie Richards has no regrets about "Showgirls."
While the "Wild Things" star told fans at New York’s Comic Con this week that she auditioned for the part that eventually went to Elizabeth Berkley, she ultimately decided it was a "blessing" she didn’t get it, People reported.
The movie, which some now see as a cult classic, was widely panned by critics and flopped at the box office, only making $37.8 million with a $45 million budget.
"I auditioned for ‘Showgirls’ and didn't get it, which is probably a blessing," she said.
Densie Richards has no regrets about not being cast in 1995’s "Showgirls." (Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)
But Richards said that audition likely led to her landing a role in 1997’s "Starship Troopers."
"I think that's why he [director Paul Verhoeven] brought me in to audition for ‘Starship.’ It was right before," she told the audience during a panel with the cast from "Starship Troopers."
"I auditioned for ‘Showgirls’ and didn't get it, which is probably a blessing."
— Denise Richards
An audience member had asked the cast what other Paul Verhoeven movie they wished they had been in.
Along with "Starship Troopers" and "Showgirls," Verhoeven also directed "Total Recall," "RoboCop" and "Basic Instinct."
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Denise Richards on the set of "Starship Troopers." (TriStar Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
Earlier this year, Berkley spoke at a sold out screening of "Showgirls" at Los Angeles’ Academy Museum, telling the audience that her mother had asked her agent whether she could be nominated for an Academy Award for the film before it was released, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"Every girl in Hollywood had fought for this role," she said. "So it was not a strange thing to ask."
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Denise Richards reunited with the cast of "Starship Troopers" at New York's Comic Con on Thursday. (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for ReedPop)
She added that the movie "really pushed the boundaries at that time that have now been embraced – not misunderstood – but truly embraced."
"You stood by the film," she told the audience. "You always believed, as did I, and for that I’m eternally grateful."
Like "Showgirls," "Starship Troopers," which portrayed Richards as an aspiring pilot in a futuristic, dystopian world, struggled at the box office but has since become a cult classic itself.
