Peter Facinelli: New Moon Patriarch

Best known for his portrayal of Carlisle Cullen, the gorgeous patriarch of the Cullen vampire clan in the hugely successful Twilight saga films, Peter Facinelli has proven his versatility; doing comedy, drama and action, on both the big and small screen.

Juggling fatherhood (he and his wife, actress Jennie Garth, have three young daughters) with a film and television career, which currently includes the popular Showtime television series Nurse Jackie, the New York native is getting ready to start filming the third installment of the Twilight saga, Eclipse, with director David Slade.

Peter Facinelli spoke to TeenHollywood for this exclusive interview about what it's like to have the job security of a successful film franchise.

TeenHollywood: What initially attracted you to acting? Was there someone or something that inspired you to do it, or did you just know that you wanted to be a performer?

Peter: No, I was the opposite of a performer. I was really shy, when I was growing up. I saw a movie called Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in third grade, and I thought Paul Newman and Robert Redford looked like they were having a really good time, and I said, "That's what I want to do, when I grow up." I was always inspired by Paul Newman and Robert Redford to want to be an actor, but I never really did anything about it because I was shy. So, all through high school, I never did a play.

TeenHollywood: When did you actually start acting then?

Peter: Not until college. I transferred into NYU from St. John's University and started studying theater. I was going to take law because it seemed to impress people in my family when I said, "I want to be a lawyer when I grow up." One time, I told them that I wanted to be an actor and they all looked at me like I had five heads.

TeenHollywood: When did you realize that you were not meant for a law career?

Peter: I did one year at St. John's University, and I studied pre-law and worked for a law firm, and I realized that lawyers spend most of their time trying not to go to court. They told me that court was the last place you want to be. So, I threw away the courtroom drama and just went straight for the drama, and I transferred to NYU. I told my parents, "To be a good lawyer, I have to be a good actor, so I'm going to take acting classes at NYU and study theater there," and they bought it. And then, I started working, right out of NYU. So, when my parents realized it was something that I could do, they were behind it.

TeenHollywood: What was the point where you realized that you could actually make a living and a career out of acting?

Peter: I don't think I ever thought I wouldn't make a living or a career out of it. I never had a back-up plan. For me, it was always a do or die kind of thing. When people ask me if there's any advice that I'd give them, I say, "Don't have a back-up plan 'cause you'll use it." I didn't have a back-up plan. I started working, out of college, and I just went from job to job and never looked back. I always made my living, from that point on, as an actor. I never thought that I wouldn't.

TeenHollywood: In regard to making the Twilight films, at what point did you get the sense that you were part of something that would become so huge?

Peter: Not until the premiere of the movie, did I realize how huge it had become. When we finished filming, it was an independent film that was based on a book that had a good size fan base. But, somewhere between the end of filming and the premiere, it just snowballed into this cultural phenomenon. I was on the beach, over the summer, that year and people were reading the books. I couldn't count, on one hand, how many people were reading the books on the beach. And, I thought, "Wow, a lot of people are into this book." People were coming up to me, before the movie was out, saying, "You play Carlisle Cullen." They were already on the Internet, checking out who the characters were.

TeenHollywood: Do you have any particularly memorable fan moments?

Peter: I remember being on the beach in Hawaii and some fan of the books knew that I was playing that character, even before the movie came out. And then, when the movie came out, on the night of the premiere, it was just completely surreal. There were five lots of screaming fans, and I'd never seen anything like it before. It was really weird because they hadn't seen the movie yet, and they were screaming and cheering. I thought, "Well, this could become an angry mob, if they don't like the movie." But, thankfully, they did, and now it's only gotten even bigger.

I recently did a charity autograph session in West Virginia and people flew out from Ohio to come to the signing, and that's pretty amazing. To get people on an airplane, to fly somewhere to go get an autograph from somebody, just shows the power of that fanbase, and how loyal and faithful and amazing they are.

TeenHollywood: Was there a certain comfort level, in returning to this character again for New Moon, having already played him before?

Peter: Definitely. It's like putting on an old pair of jeans, the second time around. You feel like you already know this character and you've created him, and you know the other actors and you know the relationships, but you're always looking to dig a little deeper and find more because you don't want to keep churning out the same thing. You try to keep finding different layers. With the first movie, I did a lot more research on how this character was. For the second movie, I worked more on his relationships within the family structure.

TeenHollywood: Does it help to have your co-stars to go through this whole crazy process with?

Peter: Definitely. There's a definite comfort when you see the other actors. You feel like you're all in it together. It's a very family-oriented group. We go for dinners, and we like being with each other. I don't think there's one person who doesn't get along with the others, in the group, and it really has become a family. When you see the other person, even if it's for a non-Twilight event, there's a comfort level there. When you look across and see them, they make you smile. Some of my favorite scenes are when all of the Cullens are together. When I'm doing a scene and I look across and see that whole group of actors together, in one scene, it just makes me happy. It makes me feel like the whole gang is there and the whole family is together.

TeenHollywood: Does it make things more exciting to have different directors for each film, since they bring their own vision each time?

Peter: Yeah. I love Catherine Hardwicke. I loved working with her. She cast us, so we owe her a lot because she was the one who hand-picked us to play those roles. Then, we had another director, Chris Weitz, come in, who put his spin on it and gave us his vision, and came up with things that we hadn't thought about, in the first one. And, David Slade is going to do the same for Eclipse. It does keep it new and fresh. I'm used to it because I've done television and, in television, like with Nurse Jackie or Damages, we had different directors for every episode. The tone is always the same, with those shows, but the director brings a new flavor, and it keeps it fresh and exciting.

TeenHollywood: Have you been doing any research into David Slade and his work, to see what kind of director he'll be to work with?

Peter: I've seen Hard Candy, and I think he did a great job on that. And, I'm going to rent 30 Days of Night. Once he was hired, I sent him an email saying that I'm excited to work with him, and he sent me back one saying, "Ditto."

TeenHollywood: Are you looking forward to getting back into this character again so quickly?

Peter: Yeah. It's been a nice enough break. I had the summer off, to spend with my family, and now I hit the ground running. In August, I go straight into Eclipse, and then, after Eclipse, I go straight to Season 2 of Nurse Jackie, so the Fall is pretty busy. And, in between that, I'll be flying back and forth, playing the role of dad.

TeenHollywood: You seem to also have fans that connect to each of the projects you've done, throughout your career. Does that surprise you?

Peter: It's really funny to me. Because I've looked so different in things, a lot of times, people come up to me and say, "You look so familiar." And then they, realize I'm an actor and they'll ask me what I was in, and I have to look at them and guess what they would know me from. Sometimes, they completely throw me because I'll think they must watch Damages and they'll be like, "No, I've seen Can't Hardly Wait." It's fun to meet my audience and learn what think I've done that's connected with them. One time, I walked down the block and I met somebody who said, "Hey, I loved you in Can't Hardly Wait." And, a block later, someone said, "Hey, I loved you in The Lather Effect," and I was like, "You saw that?" It's funny to meet people and have them know me from different things.

TeenHollywood: Are there any types of roles or specific genres that you'd like to do, in your career, that you haven't gotten the chance to do yet?

Peter: One of my favorite things, and I know it didn't last, was Fastlane, only because I got to do action, drama and comedy, all in one. That was a fun show to do. I haven't done a romantic comedy yet. That might be fun to do.