Richards was born in Downers Grove, Illinois, the daughter of Joni, a coffee shop owner, and Irv Richards, a telephone engineer. She is of Welsh and Croatian descent. She has one sister, Michelle, and grew up in both Mokena and Downers Grove, Illinois. She graduated in 1989 from El Camino High School in Oceanside, California. As a child, she was the "only girl on the baseball team. Before she was an actress, Richards was signed by the Judith Fontaine Modeling & Talent Agency as a model.
In 1986, Richards appeared in the music video "The Captain of Her Heart" by Double. She spent the majority of the 1990s appearing in lower-budget films and TV shows such as Saved by the Bell, television movies, and guest starring in episodes of several television shows such as Married with Children (1991), a five-second walk through. Her first starring role in a wide theatrical release was Starship Troopers in 1997, which was followed by her role in Wild Things in 1998. In 1998, she appeared in the music video for the Blues Traveler song Canadian Rose.
