Denise Richards: Sheen ‘not the person I fell in love with’

Video: Richards on Sheen: ‘I still care very much for him’

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   >>> 8:10. no one would argue one of the biggest stories of the year had been charlie sheen and his very public troubles. imagine watching it all unfold as his ex-wife and mother of his children. we'll talk to denise richards in a moment, but first, a quick look back. denise richards was only in her early 20s when she was cast in her first hollywood blockbuster. and it didn't take long after a racy role in " wild things " and landing the coveted stand us the as a bond girl in 1989 .

   >> dr. jones.

   >> that richards became a major hollywood sex symbol . but two years later she took on another role which would keep her in the headlines, mrs. charlie sheen . richards and sheen went on to have two children. and one of the nastiest divorces in hollywood history, which was finally resolved in 2006 . this year sheen's erratic behavior shind a new spotlight on their relationship.

   >> defeat is not an option. picked a fight with a warlock.

   >> denise, have you spoken to charlie ?

   >> for now, richards says she and her ex-husband is in a good place and she's ready to move forward. denise richards has now written a new memoir called "the real girl next door." welcome back. congratulations not only on the book but a new baby you just adopted.

   >> thank you.

   >> how old?

   >> she's 6 weeks , 7 weeks .

   >> and you've got two other daughters. how are they adjusting?

   >> they are so excited and feel so blessed and they love feeding her and changing her. we're very happy.

   >> hopefully they'll stay like that. that will be good to do that for a long time. this book, tell me about the timing of this, because as we just mentioned, the last year has been crazy. your family has been in the headlines because your family has been in the headlines. were you in the midst of writing it then? what was the timing?

   >> i was in the middle of writing it, almost finished and i actually changed parts of it during that because i felt -- i get into it briefly because i knew i would be asked about it, so i figured i would tell people about it.

   >> i want to mention. this is not a charlie sheen bashing book.

   >> no.

   >> you do talk about your relationship, the start of it and the demise of it. but not in a way that's going to create any major headlines. and i'm worried -- i'm curious about this idea that you put forward, when you watched what was going on over the past year with your ex-husband, you said, this was not the man i married. this was the man i divorced. what's the major difference?

   >> well, everyone asks me why i married him, which i get into in the book. but -- and the man i fell in love with is very compassionate, humble, has a wonderful heart, and the behavior that a lot of us saw in the last six months is not the person that i met and fell in love with.

   >> do you remember, denise, a period in your marriage where there was that turning point? you've written about that there was one night in particular that stands in your memory where you knew the relationship was over. and you talk about a dark revelation. but you don't actually say what the dark revelation is. can you give me a hint? what was it that happened that night that let you say this is done?

   >> the details of our actual divorce are private between charlie and i. i get into, in the book, more about how i felt. i think a lot of women and men who are going through divorce can relate to the feelings of being angry and scared and guilty and whatever. that's what i wanted to touch on and hopefully be relatable to other people instead of the details of what actually happened.

   >> i mentioned you've got two daughters. and 6 and 7, is that -- now three. how much did you feel they should be made aware of what their dad was going through or did you shield them from it completely as a mom?

   >> as far as the media, i shield them completely but there's a few things they would hear, you know, through other kids. and there was a point where i -- the recent stuff of everything that we all saw on the shows and all of that i did not discuss. but i did have to have a conversation with them about addiction and got a book to read to them because i was just lying to them so much and covering up and telling lies. it was just getting too confuse confusing that i needed to sit down with them.

   >> so when you had those discussions with them, do you get the sense that at their age they get it a little bit or is it still too early?

   >> i think it's too early. they're so young. i think that they -- the book is written for children, so i think they did comprehend some of it. as they get older, they'll learn more as needed. but i told them enough that they needed right then. i think for them to make sense of some things that were going on.

   >> moving on from charlie sheen , and in the book when you moved on from charlie sheen you did start to date richie sambora . and then here come the headlines again. richie had been married to heather locklear . you were said to have been a friend of hers. this accusation came up that you had somehow broken up their home. no one wants to hear that accusation. that's a tough thing to have said about you.

   >> yeah.

   >> how did you deal with it and what's the truth?

   >> it was extremely difficult. and if i did break up a marriage or have an affair i would -- i've been through so much, i would admit it and take it on the chin and admit my mistakes. i could have handled that situation different. but the fact of the matter is he was divorced, i was divorced, and then, you know, we got together and that was what happened. i get into a little bit of that.

   >> you do. what strikes me in reading that section of the book, here you're going through all of this. the headlines you don't want. and yet i think sometimes in society we stop, we forget to realize that behind the tabloid headlines there are other things going on. here you were dealing with a very decision with your mom who was ill.

   >> yeah.

   >> at the time. and so how did -- you know, with cancer.

   >> right.

   >> yhow did you hold this all together?

   >> i don't know. i think that's partly why i wrote this. i went through so much. i couldn't get a job. i was dealing with my mom dying who did die. i was going through a horrible divorce. all these awful headlines. and it was a very difficult time. and also with richie, his father was diagnosed with cancer two weeks after my mom and they both had passed away shortly, you know, after that. so it was very hard.

   >> what do you want people -- as someone who has lived so much of her life in the spotlight and has been the subject of so many headlines, what do you want people to learn when they sit down and take the time to actually read the book?

   >> i want someone who is going through a decision, whether it's divorce, lost their job, whatever it is, and you feel -- i hit rock bottom . and to have hope that you can get to the other side and there is light at the end of the tunnel .

   >> and just briefly to wrap it up with charlie , you say you hope that he gets through this. you think he will get through this. but i think your write something, i'm paraphrasing here, if he doesn't tragically, he will not. are you worried about his health, his safety?

   >> of course. he's the father of our daughters and i still care very much for him and want him well. but he's also a survivor and if anyone can pull themselves together, it's charlie .

   >> at this stage of your relationship is at least sound, you can deal as parents together?

   >> we're good today, yeah.

   >> today.

   >> we're doing good.

   >> one day at a time.

   >> exactly.

   >> denise richards , nice to have you back. and again, the book is "the real girl next door."

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