Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen come full circle

This June 25, 2012 photo released by Starpix shows actors Tyler Perry, left, and Denise Richards, at the premiere of the Lionsgate film, "Tyler Perry's: Madea's Witness Protection," at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York.

This June 25, 2012 photo released by Starpix shows actors Tyler Perry, left, and Denise Richards, at the premiere of the Lionsgate film, "Tyler Perry's: Madea's Witness Protection," at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York. The film, starring Perry, Richards, Romeo, and Eugene Levy, opens nationwide on June 29. (AP Photo/Starpix, Marion Curtis)

Actress Denise Richards from the cast of "Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection" visits the observation deck at the Empire State Building on Tuesday June 26, 2012 in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Denise Richards and ex-husband Charlie Sheen have come so far that it's almost hard to believe they were once in such a vicious divorce battle that she filed a restraining order against him and claimed he threatened her.

Now, the exes are friends and even co-stars. Richards appears on an upcoming episode of Sheen's new FX sitcom "Anger Management," which premieres Thursday. She says it was his idea for her to do the show.

"It's actually great working with him," Richards said in a recent interview. "I like working with Charlie. We met working together and we worked together when we were married, and this is the first thing we've worked on since our divorce. But I'm very excited for his show and I think it's very funny, and I was, you know, honored that they wanted me to be a part of it."

Sheen and Richards even recently told Rolling Stone magazine that they're "like best friends now" and he tells her everything. He even said in the magazine that he'd still like to have sex with her.

"I would rather him say that then say some other things," Richards said, laughing.

They might be buddies now, but Richards is cautious to add that things aren't always smooth sailing between the two. "We've been in, I would say, a good place for quite some time. ... You know it's up and down, too. I take it day by day."

The two divorced in 2006. They have two young daughters together, Sam and Lola.

Besides "Anger Management", Richards also has a role in the new Tyler Perry movie called "Madea's Witness Protection" which opens Friday. She says she got a kick out of seeing Perry transform into his alter-egos Madea and Uncle Joe.

"It's funny to see (Perry) as Madea," Richards said. "He's this hunky, gorgeous leading man. ... I don't know how Madea and Uncle Joe comes out of that."

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Online:

http://www.fxnetworks.com/angermanagement/

http://www.madeaswitnessprotectionmovie.com/

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