Peter Facinelli
Encyclopedia
Peter Facinelli is an American actor. He became known as the star of Fox
's 2002 television series Fastlane
. He plays Carlisle Cullen in the film adaptations
of the Twilight series. He is also well known for his role as Mike Dexter in the film Can't Hardly Wait
. He is currently a regular on the television series Nurse Jackie
portraying the role of Dr. Fitch "Coop" Cooper.
, the son of Italian
immigrants, Bruna, a homemaker, and Pierino Facinelli, a waiter. His parents are from Val di Non
which is located in Trentino, Northern Italy
. His father is from Revò
, while his mother is from Spormaggiore
. He was raised Roman Catholic and attended St. Francis Preparatory School
in Fresh Meadows, New York. He studied acting at the Atlantic Theater Company
Acting School in New York City
; his teachers there included William H. Macy
, Felicity Huffman
, Giancarlo Esposito
, and Camryn Manheim
.
's Angela in 1995 and came to the attention of critics in the TV-movie The Price of Love later that year. In 1996, Facinelli played opposite future wife Jennie Garth
in An Unfinished Affair. Other TV roles followed, including a part in After Jimmy
(1996) and a college dropout in Calm at Sunset
. Facinelli co-starred with Amanda Peet
and Michael Vartan
in the 1997 AIDS-themed drama Touch Me (1997) and co-starred as a high school student in two 1998 features with Ethan Embry
and Breckin Meyer
, Dancer, Texas Pop. 81
, and Can't Hardly Wait
, which starred Jennifer Love Hewitt
.
Facinelli appeared in the sci-fi film Supernova starring James Spader
in 2000. He made appearances in Riding in Cars with Boys
in 2001 and The Scorpion King
in 2002, followed by a leading role in the Fox drama Fastlane
. Facinelli had a recurring role in the HBO series Six Feet Under in 2004 and a role in the FX original series Damages
beginning in 2007. Facinelli starred in Hollow Man 2
with Christian Slater
. It was released direct-to-video
in May 2006.
After wrapping up Finding Amanda
with Matthew Broderick
, Facinelli played Carlisle Cullen in the film adaptation of Twilight
, based on the book by Stephenie Meyer
. Facinelli reprised his role in the sequels of the film, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. He will also continue to portray the role in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn which is set to release November 18, 2011.
He stars as Dr. Fitch Cooper in the Showtime dark comedy
series Nurse Jackie
. He will soon star in "Loosies," a story of a New York pickpocket that he wrote himself and being produced by Verdi Corrente Productions.
, on the set of An Unfinished Affair
, a 1996 television film. They married in 2001. They are parents to Luca Bella (born on June 30, 1997), Lola Ray (born on December 6, 2002), and Fiona Eve (born on September 30, 2006).
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
's 2002 television series Fastlane
Fastlane (TV series)
Fastlane is an American action/crime drama series that was broadcast on Fox from 2002 to 2003. On August 14, 2005 G4 began rebroadcasting the complete series. After finishing its initial run on the network, Fastlane stopped airing on G4...
. He plays Carlisle Cullen in the film adaptations
The Twilight Saga (film series)
The Twilight Saga is a series of supernatural romance fantasy films from Summit Entertainment based on the four Twilight series novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. The films star Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. The series has grossed over $2 billion in worldwide...
of the Twilight series. He is also well known for his role as Mike Dexter in the film Can't Hardly Wait
Can't Hardly Wait
Can't Hardly Wait is a 1998 American teen comedy film written and directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. It stars Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green, and Jennifer Love Hewitt, and is notable for a number of "before-they-were-famous" appearances by various...
. He is currently a regular on the television series Nurse Jackie
Nurse Jackie
Nurse Jackie is an American series that premiered on June 8, 2009, on Showtime, Movie Central and The Movie Network.The series stars Edie Falco as the title character Jackie Peyton, an emergency room nurse at All Saints' Hospital in New York City...
portraying the role of Dr. Fitch "Coop" Cooper.
Early life
Facinelli grew up in Ozone Park, QueensOzone Park, Queens
Ozone Park is a working class neighborhood located in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens bordering Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park, Howard Beach, and City Line, Brooklyn....
, the son of Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
immigrants, Bruna, a homemaker, and Pierino Facinelli, a waiter. His parents are from Val di Non
Val di Non
The Non Valley is a valley located mainly in Trentino, with three, primarily German-speaking enclaves belonging to the province of South Tyrol , in the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, northern Italy....
which is located in Trentino, Northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
. His father is from Revò
Revò
Revò is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 35 km north of Trento...
, while his mother is from Spormaggiore
Spormaggiore
Spormaggiore is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 15 km northwest of Trento...
. He was raised Roman Catholic and attended St. Francis Preparatory School
St. Francis Preparatory School
St. Francis Preparatory School, commonly known as St. Francis Prep, is a private, independent Catholic college preparatory school in the Fresh Meadows neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. It is the largest non-diocesan Catholic high school in the United States. St. Francis is run by...
in Fresh Meadows, New York. He studied acting at the Atlantic Theater Company
Atlantic Theater Company
Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their acting students from New York University, inspired by the...
Acting School in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; his teachers there included William H. Macy
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
, Felicity Huffman
Felicity Huffman
Felicity Kendall Huffman is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is known for her role as executive producer Dana Whitaker on the ABC television show Sports Night , which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination, and as hectic supermom Lynette Scavo on the ABC show Desperate...
, Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is a Danish-born American film and television actor and director.-Early life:Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Italian father and African-American mother. His mother was an opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, who once appeared on the same...
, and Camryn Manheim
Camryn Manheim
Camryn Manheim is an American actress known primarily for her roles as attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC's The Practice and Delia Banks on CBS's Ghost Whisperer and as Elvis's mother, Gladys Presley in the 2005 mini-series Elvis....
.
Career
Facinelli made his feature film debut in Rebecca MillerRebecca Miller
Rebecca Augusta Miller is an American film director, screenwriter and actress, most known for her films Personal Velocity: Three Portraits , The Ballad of Jack and Rose, and Angela,and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee all of which she wrote and directed.-Life and career:Born in Roxbury,...
's Angela in 1995 and came to the attention of critics in the TV-movie The Price of Love later that year. In 1996, Facinelli played opposite future wife Jennie Garth
Jennie Garth
Jennifer Eve "Jennie" Garth is an American actress and director, best known for starring in the prominent role of Kelly Taylor throughout the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
in An Unfinished Affair. Other TV roles followed, including a part in After Jimmy
After Jimmy
After Jimmy is a CBS 1996 TV movie, based on a true story, starring Meredith Baxter as a woman, with her family, mourning the suicide death of her teenage son...
(1996) and a college dropout in Calm at Sunset
Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn
Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn is the second novel by American author Paul Watkins. It was published in 1989 by Houghton Mifflin and shared the Encore Award the following year.-Plot introduction:...
. Facinelli co-starred with Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet is an American actress, who has appeared on film, stage, and television. After studying with Uta Hagen at Columbia University, Peet began her career in television commercials, and progressed to small roles on television, before making her film debut in 1995...
and Michael Vartan
Michael Vartan
Michael S. Vartan is a French-American film and television actor. He is probably best known for the role of Michael Vaughn on the American television action drama Alias...
in the 1997 AIDS-themed drama Touch Me (1997) and co-starred as a high school student in two 1998 features with Ethan Embry
Ethan Embry
Ethan Philan Randall , although he is known and usually credited as Ethan Embry, is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role as Declan Giggs on the Showtime television series Brotherhood.-Personal life:...
and Breckin Meyer
Breckin Meyer
-Early life:Meyer was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Dorothy Ann , a travel agent and former microbiologist, and Christopher William Meyer, a management consultant. As a child of divorced parents, he lived in California, Texas, West Virginia and New Jersey. He has an older brother,...
, Dancer, Texas Pop. 81
Dancer, Texas Pop. 81
Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 is a 1998 comedy film about four friends in the small, fictional American town of Dancer, located in Brewster County, Texas. As the title implies, only 81 people live in this town. Following their high school graduation, the four young men wrestle with their decisions to...
, and Can't Hardly Wait
Can't Hardly Wait
Can't Hardly Wait is a 1998 American teen comedy film written and directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. It stars Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green, and Jennifer Love Hewitt, and is notable for a number of "before-they-were-famous" appearances by various...
, which starred Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, producer, television director and former singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated...
.
Facinelli appeared in the sci-fi film Supernova starring James Spader
James Spader
James Todd Spader is an American actor best known for his eccentric roles in movies such as Pretty in Pink, Less Than Zero, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Crash, Stargate, and Secretary...
in 2000. He made appearances in Riding in Cars with Boys
Riding in Cars with Boys
Riding in Cars with Boys is a 2001 film based on the autobiography of the same name by Beverly Donofrio, about a woman who overcame difficulties including being a teen mother to earning a master's degree from the span of 1961 to 1986. It stars Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, Brittany Murphy, and James...
in 2001 and The Scorpion King
The Scorpion King
The Scorpion King is a 2002 American action film directed by Chuck Russell, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov, and Michael Clarke Duncan...
in 2002, followed by a leading role in the Fox drama Fastlane
Fastlane (TV series)
Fastlane is an American action/crime drama series that was broadcast on Fox from 2002 to 2003. On August 14, 2005 G4 began rebroadcasting the complete series. After finishing its initial run on the network, Fastlane stopped airing on G4...
. Facinelli had a recurring role in the HBO series Six Feet Under in 2004 and a role in the FX original series Damages
Damages (TV series)
Damages is an American television drama series created by the writing and production trio of Daniel Zelman and brothers Glenn and Todd A. Kessler . It is broadcast in the United States on the DirecTV channel Audience Network after originally airing on FX and is produced by the creators' own...
beginning in 2007. Facinelli starred in Hollow Man 2
Hollow Man 2
Hollow Man 2 is a science fiction thriller film starring Christian Slater, and directed by Claudio Fäh. It was released direct-to-video on May 23, 2006 with the tag line "There's More to Terror Than Meets The Eye". It is the sequel to Hollow Man....
with Christian Slater
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
. It was released direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
in May 2006.
After wrapping up Finding Amanda
Finding Amanda
Finding Amanda is a 2008 comedy film directed by Peter Tolan and starring Matthew Broderick and Brittany Snow. The plot revolves around a television producer with a penchant for drinking and gambling, who is sent to Las Vegas to convince his troubled niece to enter rehabilitation.Finding Amanda was...
with Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
, Facinelli played Carlisle Cullen in the film adaptation of Twilight
Twilight (2008 film)
Twilight is a 2008 American romantic vampire film based on Stephenie Meyer's popular novel of the same name. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, the film stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. It is the first film in The Twilight Saga film series...
, based on the book by Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer is an American author known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies globally, with translations into 37 different languages...
. Facinelli reprised his role in the sequels of the film, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. He will also continue to portray the role in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn which is set to release November 18, 2011.
He stars as Dr. Fitch Cooper in the Showtime dark comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
series Nurse Jackie
Nurse Jackie
Nurse Jackie is an American series that premiered on June 8, 2009, on Showtime, Movie Central and The Movie Network.The series stars Edie Falco as the title character Jackie Peyton, an emergency room nurse at All Saints' Hospital in New York City...
. He will soon star in "Loosies," a story of a New York pickpocket that he wrote himself and being produced by Verdi Corrente Productions.
Personal life
Facinelli met his wife, Jennie GarthJennie Garth
Jennifer Eve "Jennie" Garth is an American actress and director, best known for starring in the prominent role of Kelly Taylor throughout the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
, on the set of An Unfinished Affair
An Unfinished Affair
An Unfinished Affair is a 1996 television film directed by Rod Hardy. The film originally premiered on ABC and is now frequently aired on Lifetime.- Plot :...
, a 1996 television film. They married in 2001. They are parents to Luca Bella (born on June 30, 1997), Lola Ray (born on December 6, 2002), and Fiona Eve (born on September 30, 2006).
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Brett | TV | |
| 1995 | Angela Angela (film) Angela is a 1995 film, Rebecca Miller's directorial debut. It won awards at the Sundance Film Festival, the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film and the Gotham Awards.-Plot:... |
Lucifer | |
| 1995 | Law & Order Law & Order Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,... |
Shane Sutter | 1 episode |
| 1996 | Calm at Sunset Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn is the second novel by American author Paul Watkins. It was published in 1989 by Houghton Mifflin and shared the Encore Award the following year.-Plot introduction:... |
James Pfeiffer | TV |
| 1996 | After Jimmy After Jimmy After Jimmy is a CBS 1996 TV movie, based on a true story, starring Meredith Baxter as a woman, with her family, mourning the suicide death of her teenage son... |
Jimmy Stapp | TV |
| 1996 | Foxfire | Ethan Bixby | |
| 1996 | Rick Connor | TV | |
| 1997 | Touch Me | Bail | |
| 1998 | Telling You Telling You Telling You, also known as Love Sucks, is a 1998 comedy - romance film with some drama elements. The film was directed by Robert DeFranco and distributed by Miramax... |
Phil Fazzulo | |
| 1998 | Welcome to Hollywood Welcome to Hollywood Welcome to Hollywood is a mockumentary about a young man trying to make it in Hollywood as an actor. Tony Markes is the young man trying to pursue the means to become an actor. Various attempts to get him noticed and in roles in film and television fail... |
Actor | |
| 1998 | Can't Hardly Wait Can't Hardly Wait Can't Hardly Wait is a 1998 American teen comedy film written and directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. It stars Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green, and Jennifer Love Hewitt, and is notable for a number of "before-they-were-famous" appearances by various... |
Mike Dexter | |
| 1998 | Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 is a 1998 comedy film about four friends in the small, fictional American town of Dancer, located in Brewster County, Texas. As the title implies, only 81 people live in this town. Following their high school graduation, the four young men wrestle with their decisions to... |
Terrell Lee Lusk | |
| 1999 | Blue Ridge Fall | Danny Shepherd | |
| 1999 | Bob Walker | ||
| 2000 | Honest | Daniel Wheaton | |
| 2000 | Ropewalk | Charlie | |
| 2000 | Supernova | Karl Larson | |
| 2001 | Riding in Cars with Boys Riding in Cars with Boys Riding in Cars with Boys is a 2001 film based on the autobiography of the same name by Beverly Donofrio, about a woman who overcame difficulties including being a teen mother to earning a master's degree from the span of 1961 to 1986. It stars Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, Brittany Murphy, and James... |
Tommy Butcher | |
| 2001 | Tempted | Jimmy Mulate | |
| 2001 | Stealing Time Stealing Time Stealing Time is a 2001 drama involving the uniting of four friends reuniting a year after college, each of them now dealing with their own problems... |
Alec Nichols | |
| 2002– 2003 |
Fastlane Fastlane (TV series) Fastlane is an American action/crime drama series that was broadcast on Fox from 2002 to 2003. On August 14, 2005 G4 began rebroadcasting the complete series. After finishing its initial run on the network, Fastlane stopped airing on G4... |
Donovan 'Van' Ray | TV Series with Tiffani Thiessen |
| 2002 | Takmet | ||
| 2003– 2005 |
Six Feet Under | Jimmy | Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2005) |
| 2005 | Danny | ||
| 2005 | Chloe | ||
| 2005 | Enfants terribles Les Enfants Terribles Les Enfants Terribles is a 1929 novel by Jean Cocteau, published by Editions Bernard Grasset. It concerns two siblings, Elisabeth and Paul, who isolate themselves from the world as they grow up; this isolation is shattered by the stresses of their adolescence. It was first translated into English... |
Curtis | |
| 2006 | Hollow Man 2 Hollow Man 2 Hollow Man 2 is a science fiction thriller film starring Christian Slater, and directed by Claudio Fäh. It was released direct-to-video on May 23, 2006 with the tag line "There's More to Terror Than Meets The Eye". It is the sequel to Hollow Man.... |
Det. Frank Turner | Video |
| 2006 | Touch the Top of the World | Erik Weihenmayer | TV |
| 2006 | Arc | Paris Pritchert | Indie Gathering Award for Best Actor |
| 2007 | Damages Damages (TV series) Damages is an American television drama series created by the writing and production trio of Daniel Zelman and brothers Glenn and Todd A. Kessler . It is broadcast in the United States on the DirecTV channel Audience Network after originally airing on FX and is produced by the creators' own... |
Gregory Malina | TV |
| 2007 | Lily | The Man | |
| 2007 | That Guy | Jack | |
| 2007 | Battle Olympia | Possessed Office High Jumper | |
| 2008 | Finding Amanda Finding Amanda Finding Amanda is a 2008 comedy film directed by Peter Tolan and starring Matthew Broderick and Brittany Snow. The plot revolves around a television producer with a penchant for drinking and gambling, who is sent to Las Vegas to convince his troubled niece to enter rehabilitation.Finding Amanda was... |
Greg | |
| 2008 | Reaper | Jesus | |
| 2008 | Twilight Twilight (2008 film) Twilight is a 2008 American romantic vampire film based on Stephenie Meyer's popular novel of the same name. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, the film stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. It is the first film in The Twilight Saga film series... |
Dr. Carlisle Cullen | |
| 2009 | Dr. Carlisle Cullen | ||
| 2009 | Nurse Jackie Nurse Jackie Nurse Jackie is an American series that premiered on June 8, 2009, on Showtime, Movie Central and The Movie Network.The series stars Edie Falco as the title character Jackie Peyton, an emergency room nurse at All Saints' Hospital in New York City... |
Dr. Fitch "Coop" Cooper | 2009–present |
| 2010 | Dr. Carlisle Cullen | ||
| 2011 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, commonly referred to as Breaking Dawn, is a 2011/2012 two-part romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. The two parts form the fourth and final installment in the The Twilight Saga series... |
Dr. Carlisle Cullen | |
| 2012 | Loosies | ||
| 2012 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, commonly referred to as Breaking Dawn, is a 2011/2012 two-part romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. The two parts form the fourth and final installment in the The Twilight Saga series... |
Dr. Carlisle Cullen | Post-Production |