For fans of film and television, few things are better than getting the chance to meet the people behind the characters who have become part of our pop-culture memories. Fan Expo Dallas will once again bring that experience to DFW, names like Denise Richards and many other nostalgic icons from filmography.

Denise Richards has done everything from playing a Bond girl to having a reality television show. Although Fan Expo Dallas doesn’t open its doors until September 11, ILID is bringing an exclusive interview with Denise about her career, most memorable roles, and what these conventions mean to her! Take a look what she had to say about these topics below and be sure to catch up with her yourself at Fan Expo Dallas.

You’ve worked with some incredibly recognizable actors. Who was the person you met on set and immediately thought, “Oh wow… I’m actually working with them”?

There are so many. When I was starting out in my career and building my resume, I played younger than my age, because I was able to work the hours that someone that wasn’t 18 would be able to work. I was able to work on these huge TV shows. Saved by the Bell was my first job. That’s how I got my SAG card. I was so intimidated to work with them. I worked on Seinfeld… There have been so many actors along the way; I’ve been so lucky. Obviously, there was working with Pierce on Bond. Even after I had been working for quite a few years, there was the cast of Friends. Working on these things was like having your first day of school; it’s intimidating! I always feel so blessed and so grateful that I get to work with such amazing actors.

Carmen Ibanez from Starship Troopers has to make some questionable romantic decisions. If you could sit her down today and give her one piece of dating advice, what would you tell her?

You know, it’s funny because I was just at Fan Expo in Canada, and we were talking about how a lot of fans say I shouldn’t have dumped Johnny Rico. Number one, I didn’t write the script. And number two, I would say that she was very focused on her career. Also, in my mind as an actress playing the part, with both of them being in the military, I would justify it as she would have wanted him to be safe. He wouldn’t be distracted having a girl somewhere else and could just focus on what he had to do. I think she could give me dating advice better than I could give her dating advice.

You’ve been involved in movies that have developed huge cult followings. What’s one scene from your career that fans are surprisingly obsessed with that you personally never expected anyone to remember?

It’s amazing. I feel I have had one cult-following movie in every genre. Sci-fi had Starship Troopers. Drop Dead Gorgeous has its own following. Obviously, Wild Things had their scene… Someone over the weekend mentioned to me how I get stabbed by the claws of a bug and then, all of a sudden, I’m fine walking around in Starship Troopers. I did bring that up to Paul Verhoeven. He was just like, “She’s fine. She’s fine.” I think each movie, being such a different genre, has its own thing. People bring up my death scene in Valentine a lot. Each of the movies seems to have its own little scene.

You’ve done serious drama, comedy, action, horror, science fiction, soap operas, and reality television. Is there a genre or unique role you still haven’t done that you secretly think would be ridiculously fun?

Yes, I would love to work with Quentin Tarantino. I would love to do something really cool with Marvel. I would also love to do another action movie. I would love to work with Tom Cruise. He does a lot of fun stuff.

Speaking of different genres, you’ve worked with actors who have very different approaches to comedy. Who is the person you worked with who made it hardest for you to keep a straight face?

On Undercover Brother, it was so hard to keep a straight face while filming with Dave Chappelle and Eddie Griffin. That was really difficult for all of us.

If your Starship Troopers character, your Wild Things character, and Bond character were all stuck in an escape room together, who would be the first one to completely lose patience with the other two?

Definitely my character [Kelly Van Ryan] from Wild Things. She has no filter and she doesn’t think before she speaks.

If you could resurrect one character you’ve played—not necessarily for a sequel, but just to see what happened to them 20 years later—which character would you bring back?

I think all of them. I’m so lucky that I’ve played strong women. I feel they’re all very strong in their own, unique way. In Drop Dead Gorgeous, I personally did not think Rebecca Ann Leeman ended her days on that float. I think she hopped off that thing; there’s no way she stayed on there for that. I always have secretly hoped we would do another one where she was still alive. With Dr. Christmas Jones and Carmen, I would love to see where they went after the movies because they were super career driven, very smart, and I’m sure would have done very well.

You’ve had some pretty intense moments on camera. What’s a scene from your career that looked effortless to the audience but was secretly an absolute nightmare to film?

The hardest scene for me to film in an action sequence was in water on James Bond. Dick Armstrong was our coordinator and 2nd unit director. He worked with me on Starship Troopers and thank God I felt comfortable with him. The thing that people didn’t notice was that I had to go way down deep into a tank filled with water and there was so much down chlorine that, all of a sudden, I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t realize it had created this gas where I couldn’t breathe and the stunt guy had to bring me out right away. So, that started to make me a little anxious and didn’t understand what had happened. They had to explain it to me and then I said, “How in the hell am I gonna go down there? I think we need to do it without chlorine.” They told me no because of obvious reasons, but that was hard for me. Although I wouldn’t say it looked effortless, because my character was struggling a little bit in the scene, but, as an actress, that one was hard for me to film. I was not expecting that.

You will be in Dallas for Fan Expo, so I think that merits a con question. If you could spend an entire day at a convention as a fan – not Denise Richards, just a regular person walking around – what celebrity would you be most excited to stand in line to meet?

I have been so excited to see so many different people at conventions. I am a huge fan of Tom Cruise and I love Mission Impossible and the Top Gun movies. I would definitely stand in line for him at a convention. But there’s been other times at conventions where I’m like, “Oh, they’re here!” I met Mr. T over the weekend, and he could not have been nicer. He’s just such an icon and I was so excited to meet him. I saw he was there, went to his handler and said, “Please, can I meet him while I’m here?” So, even going to these conventions and doing them, it’s also fun for me to meet people that I haven’t met before.

If you don’t mind, we will close out with a couple of rapid fire questions…

Favorite 90s movie?

Oh, my gosh, there’s so many. I love all the John Hughes movies. I love Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. I guess those might be late 80s, but they’re close enough.

Christmas Jones or Carmen Ibanez?

I don’t know! I think Carmen…

Favorite movie villain?

Well, John Travolta in the Quentin Tarantino movie, Pulp Fiction. You love to hate him. He’s so good and has such a charm about him. There are so many good villains. I can’t pick one. There’s too many movies.

Character you can most relate to?

I feel like there’s a little bit of me and all of the characters that I’ve played. I would say, with Carmen, I can relate to her. She was very focused on her career and didn’t want a relationship to get in away. She just wanted to follow her dreams and follow her ambition.

Favorite prop you have kept?

In Starship Troopers, we had to carry fake guns when we weren’t firing. They others were really heave, so they would let us carry one that was made of rubber. I kept the rubber one. Oh, by the way, I have some advice to actors. Along the way, take a prop or piece of wardrobe from every movie. I wish I did.