Playing an ex marks the spot for Denise Richards

Denise Richards laughs when asked to describe her life these days.

"It's never boring," she says over the phone. "I can't sit still. I always have to have something going on." Minutes before this interview, she was painting a room in her house, hardly the kind of image befitting a star who has constantly made headlines in recent years for her domestic woes.

And she acts, too Known more for being the ex-wife of scandal-ridden actor Charlie Sheen and the mother of two of his daughters than for her acting, Richards hasn't lacked for exposure recently. (NOTE: This story was done before Sheen's latest incident, yesterday in a Manhattan hotel. Story, A14) She gave a tell-almost-all interview to Oprah Winfrey, has competed in "Dancing With the Stars" and headlined her own reality series about the single life called "Denise Richards: It's Complicated."

On this day, she's chatting up her five-episode stint on the football-based raunchy comedy "Blue Mountain State" (Wednesday night at 11 on Spike TV).

BACK FROM REALITY Marking her return to scripted TV after her two back-to-back reality show stints, Richards plays Debra Daniels, the rowdy ex-wife of coach Marty Daniels (played by Ed Marinaro).

Debra knows how to have a good time and isn't afraid to go for it. The actress, 39, likes how far-fetched Debra can be.

"It's fun to play a character who is so exaggerated, the epitome of a trophy wife," she says of the sex-crazed Debra. "I believe there's a part of [me] in every role.

"I am an ex-wife, and it was fun for me to have fun with it," she says. Ex-wives rarely get a fair shake in TV comedy, often shown as the harpy or the spurned but vengeful type. "Half the time, we are portrayed horribly," she says.

"But that's the best part of this [role]," she adds. "You can have fun with that. It is what it is."