Peter Facinelli

Peter Facinelli ( ; born November 26, 1973) is an American-Italian actor. He starred as Donovan "Van" Ray on the Fox series Fastlane from 2002 to 2003. He played Dr. Carlisle Cullen in the film adaptations of the Twilight novel series, and is also known for his role as Mike Dexter in the 1998 film Can't Hardly Wait. Facinelli was a regular on the Showtime comedy-drama series Nurse Jackie, portraying the role of Dr. Fitch "Coop" Cooper. He portrayed Maxwell Lord on the first season of the TV series Supergirl.

Early life Facinelli grew up in Ozone Park, Queens. He is the son of Italian immigrants Bruna (née Reich) and Pierino Facinelli. Bruna Facinelli is a homemaker, and Pierino Facinelli worked as a waiter. His parents come from the Val di Non valley in Trentino, northern Italy. His father is from Revò, while his mother is from Spormaggiore. His father worked multiple jobs to make ends meet and was often absent from the home. He was "around a lot of feminine energy" living with his mother, grandmother, and three sisters.

Facinelli studied acting at New York University, as well as at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School in New York City.

Career Facinelli made his feature film debut in Rebecca Miller'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 Jennie Garth, whom he later married, 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 also 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.

In 2006, he was cast in Touch the Top of the World, a true story of Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to climb Mount Everest. The film is based on his best selling autobiography.

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. According to an interview, "I almost didn't read for Twilight. My agent said, 'Do you want to do a vampire movie?' And I was like, 'No.' I was totally thinking blood and guts and bats in caves, like some kind of horror movie. They literally talked me into reading the book and I actually enjoyed the book a lot." The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.

He played Dr. Fitch Cooper for seven seasons on the Showtime dark comedy series Nurse Jackie.

He is the founder of the production company Facinelli Films. Their first feature film, Loosies, which was written entirely by Facinelli, was filmed in 2011. In 2011 he also wrote and produced the Hallmark Channel telefilm Accidentally in Love which starred his then-wife Jennie Garth.

In 2015, he played Maxwell Lord in Supergirl. The same year, he co-wrote the novel After the Red Rain with Barry Lyga and Robert DeFranco. It is set on a future Earth whose population is grappling with dwindling resources.

Personal life Facinelli met actress Jennie Garth on the set of An Unfinished Affair in 1995. Their first child, a daughter named Luca, was born in 1997. Facinelli and Garth married on January 20, 2001, in Montecito, California in a Catholic wedding where their 3-year-old daughter served as flower girl. They had two more daughters, born 2002 and 2006. which was finalized in June 2013. He later said he felt they had "an arranged marriage" and admitted, "I think if we didn't have children, I wouldn't have stayed."

Facinelli began dating actress Jaimie Alexander in 2012 after meeting on the set of Loosies. They became engaged in March 2015, and announced they had ended their engagement in February 2016.

On January 1, 2020, Facinelli became engaged to Lily Anne Harrison, whom he met on the Raya dating app.

Facinelli is Catholic and is a supporter of LGBT rights. In 2009, Facinelli acquired Italian citizenship through jus sanguinis to shoot a film in Europe that required that all actors be European citizens. Cyclist Letizia Paternoster is Facinelli's niece.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1995 Angela Lucifer 1996 Foxfire Ethan Bixby 1997 Touch Me Bail 1998 Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 Terrell Lee Lusk 1998 Can't Hardly Wait Mike Dexter 1998 Telling You Phil Fazzulo 1998 Welcome to Hollywood Actor 1999 Bob Walker 1999 Blue Ridge Fall Danny Shepherd 2000 Supernova Karl Larson 2000 Ropewalk Charlie 2000 Honest Daniel Wheaton 2001 Stealing Time Alec Nichols 2001 Tempted Jimmy Mulate 2001 Riding in Cars with Boys Tommy Butcher 2002 Takmet 2005 Chloe The boyfriend Short film 2005 Enfants terribles Curtis 2006 The Lather Effect Danny 2006 Hollow Man 2 Detective Frank Turner 2006 Arc Paris Pritchert 2007 Battle Olympia Possessed office high jumper Short film 2007 That Guy Jack Short film 2007 Lily The man Short film 2008 Finding Amanda Greg 2008 Twilight Dr. Carlisle Cullen 2008 Reaper Jesus Short film 2009 Dr. Carlisle Cullen 2010 Dr. Carlisle Cullen 2011 Dr. Carlisle Cullen 2012 Loosies Bobby Corelli Also producer and writer 2012 Dr. Carlisle Cullen 2013 The Damned David Reynolds 2014 Freezer Detective Sam Gurov 2015 Walter Jim 2017 Heartthrob Mr. Rickett 2017 The Wilde Wedding Ethan Darling 2017 Gangster Land George "Bugs" Moran 2018 Asher Uziel 2019 Running with the Devil Number One 2019 Countdown Dr. Sullivan 2019 Famous Adjacent Flanny Short film, completed 2020 The Vanished – Hour of Lead Deputy Rakes Also director, producer, and writer 2020 The F**k-It List Barry Brooks 2021 The Ravine Danny Turner 2021 Catch the Bullet Sheriff Drew Wilkins 2021 13 Minutes Brad 2023 On Fire Dave LaughlinCo-Directed 2025 The Unbreakable Boy Preacher Rick2025Deadly VowsSam

Television Year Title Role Notes 1995 Law & Order Shane Sutter Episode: "Performance" 1995 The Wright Verdicts Vincent Costanza Episode: "Sins of the Father" 1995 The Price of Love Brett Television film 1996 An Unfinished Affair Rick Connor Television film 1996 After Jimmy James "Jimmy" Stapp Television film 1996 Calm at Sunset James Pfeiffer Television film 2002–2003 Fastlane Donovan "Van" Ray Main role; 22 episodes 2002 I Love the '80s Himself Commentator 2004–2005 Six Feet Under Jimmy Recurring role; 9 episodes 2006 American Dad! Miles Episode: "Roger 'n' Me"; voice role 2006 Touch The Top of the World Eric Weihenmayer Television film2007 Damages Gregory Malina Recurring role; 10 episodes Hannah Montana Snowball Episode: "Get Down Study-udy-udy"; voice role 2009–2015 Nurse Jackie Dr. Fitch "Coop" Cooper Main role (seasons 1–7); 73 episodes 2011 Accidentally in Love Television film; producer and writer 2013–2014 Glee Rupert Campion Recurring role; 4 episodes 2015 American Odyssey Peter Decker Main role; 13 episodes 2015–2016 Supergirl Maxwell Lord Recurring role; 14 episodes 2017–2018 S.W.A.T. Michael Plank Recurring role; 7 episodes 2019 FBI Michael Venutti Episode: "Most Wanted" 2019 Escaping the NXIVM Cult: A Mother's Fight to Save Her Daughter Keith Raniere Television film 2019 Magnum P.I. Gene Curtis / Ivan Episode: "Day I Met the Devil" 2022 Roar Second Husband Episode: "The Woman Who Returned Her Husband"