Peter Facinelli Talks 'Twilight's' Carlisle, His Headbutting Daughter and Love for Count Chocula - Inside Movies
With hundreds of Twi-hards outside on the sidewalk eagerly awaiting the DVD release party for 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon,' we are led into the back offices of the Union Square Best Buy. We open the door to where we've been told Peter Facinelli will be awaiting the interview, but the room is empty. The publicist tells us to wait and scurries off to see where the actor has gone. As we walk across the room, a creepy feeling suddenly overcomes us. We whirl around to find Facinelli standing there, grinning like an devious child. He was hiding behind the door.
Although he's been working in Hollywood for well over a decade, the Queens native has only recently snuck up on audiences. Before becoming paternal vampire Carlisle Cullen and Dr. Fitch Cooper on Showtime's 'Nurse Jackie,' people on the street recognized him as "that guy from that TV show" ('Fastlane' or 'Damages') or "that guy from that movie" ('The Big Kahuna' or 'The Scorpion King') or "that guy who married Kelly from '90210.'" There are worse things than being known as Mr. Jennie Garth, especially when the famous couple astounds Hollywood cliches by staying married for over nine years and counting. Still, the father of three daughters must be excited now that his profile has risen.
"Honestly, I'm so unaware of that," Facinelli says about his growing fame. "I look so unlike Carlisle, I'm always surprised when someone recognizes me on the street."
That may be true, but just outside the store, Twi-girls cannot wait for the opportunity to get close enough to smell what scent he's wearing and get an autographed copy of the DVD. They can no doubt recognize him across a crowded mall. In less than an hour, they will be competing for his attention as he asks 'Twilight' trivia questions and they scream the answers like '60s girls at a Beatles show.
How did you get stuck with being here? Did you draw straws with the other Cullens?
I won it in a raffle! We put our names in a hat and mine was picked. No, actually, I was out here doing press for 'Nurse Jackie' and they asked me to do it and I said, "Sure, it sounds like fun."
Do 'Twilight' fans quote anything to you most often?
"Whose going to want you now?" [Laughs] No, actually, I get asked to say, "Animal attack."
When you took the role as Carlisle, did you read the whole series?
Well, I read the first book before meeting with Catherine Hardwicke, just to see what it was about. I fell in love with it. When I got the role, ...
