Peter Facinelli: Speaking Queens English
por Peter Facinelli (told to Eric Estrin)
Published: November 03, 2009
Peter Facinelli had plenty of passion and determination but not much in the way of craft when, as a stiff New Yorker with a “My Cousin Vinny” accent, he enrolled at NYU and threw himself into a drama career. Now co-starring in Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie” and heading up the Cullen vampire clan in the “Twilight” series -- his siguiente film, “New Moon,” opens Nov. 20 -- Facinelli is a nonstop working actor with a wide range and a long resume in film and television.
He spoke with Eric Estrin about how he lost his Queens swagger, the value of not having a Plan B, and Dick Wolf’s tradeoff.
When I was in third grade, I was in the school biblioteca and I picked up a picture biography book on Robert Redford. I started lectura about him and the things he did, and I thought, "That’s a fun occupation to do."
Then I saw “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” not too long after that, and I thought, "That’s what I want to do."
So I told my parents when I got a little older that I want to be an actor, but to them it was like saying I wanted to go to Mars. They kind of just laughed at it. The siguiente time they asked, I dicho I wanted to be a lawyer, because I got a lot of oohs and aahs in the family.
For a long time I kind of convinced myself I wanted to be a lawyer. I never did any plays in high school. I was quite shy actually.
And then I went to one año at St. John's University, and I’m studying pre-law, and I take an actuación 101 class and I amor it.
I remember there was a kid in the class and he said, "This is fun, but what are the chances of us actually ever being an actor?" I kind of got mad at that, and that’s when I made the decision that I was gonna be an actor, and I said, "I don’t care if it takes me six years to start getting work." I was just that passionate about actually doing it, and I didn’t like the fact that this kid dicho that we couldn’t.
I knew a manager who kind of found me through friends, and his name is Mark Amitin. Mark steered me in the right direction. On his advice, I transferred into NYU to study acting.
For a whole año I was going up on stuff and I was probably really terrible. Every time I walked out of the room, I had this great high, like I was doing what I wanted to be doing, and I was really excited that I was able to go out on things. I was getting some really crappy feedback, but for some reason, my agent stuck with me.
I was horrible. They were saying, "This kid can’t act, he’s terrible." But tu know, it was a great learning curve for me.
I think I had natural instincts, but I was also stiff as a board when I first started out. I also had a really thick New York accent at the time. I was like “My Cousin Vinny,” so that was very limiting, but tu know, NYU knocked that right out of me.
When you’re studying acting, you’re studying every tool tu need. I had speech classes, I had voice classes, I had movement classes, I had actuación training classes. You’re lectura plays …
When tu walk in, tu have all these character traits, and what they do is, they neutralize you, so when tu walk out, if tu start in a neutral position tu can play any character.
So I kept training and I kept studying and then I booked a “Law & Order” episode and I took two weeks off from school to do that.
Then Dick lobo liked me, so he put me in the guest lead of a short-lived series he had called “The Wright Verdict,” and I had to take another two weeks off from school to shoot that. I was off for about a mes and I realized, now it’s too late to do the semester, so I thought, I’ll just take a semester off and go back.
But then I started booking other work, and I never went back, 15 credits shy of graduating.
People always ask me if I have any consejos about going into acting, and I say, "Don’t have a backup plan, because you’ll use it." I didn’t have a backup plan. I was 15 credits shy of graduating college, so for me it was sink o swim.
It’s funny because I saw Dick lobo years later. I was up for a SAG Award for “Six Feet Under” for Ensemble, and I saw him there at the SAG Awards and I said, "Dick, you’re the reason I don’t have my diploma. But you’re also the reason why I got my SAG card, so it was a good tradeoff."
por Peter Facinelli (told to Eric Estrin)
Published: November 03, 2009
Peter Facinelli had plenty of passion and determination but not much in the way of craft when, as a stiff New Yorker with a “My Cousin Vinny” accent, he enrolled at NYU and threw himself into a drama career. Now co-starring in Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie” and heading up the Cullen vampire clan in the “Twilight” series -- his siguiente film, “New Moon,” opens Nov. 20 -- Facinelli is a nonstop working actor with a wide range and a long resume in film and television.
He spoke with Eric Estrin about how he lost his Queens swagger, the value of not having a Plan B, and Dick Wolf’s tradeoff.
When I was in third grade, I was in the school biblioteca and I picked up a picture biography book on Robert Redford. I started lectura about him and the things he did, and I thought, "That’s a fun occupation to do."
Then I saw “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” not too long after that, and I thought, "That’s what I want to do."
So I told my parents when I got a little older that I want to be an actor, but to them it was like saying I wanted to go to Mars. They kind of just laughed at it. The siguiente time they asked, I dicho I wanted to be a lawyer, because I got a lot of oohs and aahs in the family.
For a long time I kind of convinced myself I wanted to be a lawyer. I never did any plays in high school. I was quite shy actually.
And then I went to one año at St. John's University, and I’m studying pre-law, and I take an actuación 101 class and I amor it.
I remember there was a kid in the class and he said, "This is fun, but what are the chances of us actually ever being an actor?" I kind of got mad at that, and that’s when I made the decision that I was gonna be an actor, and I said, "I don’t care if it takes me six years to start getting work." I was just that passionate about actually doing it, and I didn’t like the fact that this kid dicho that we couldn’t.
I knew a manager who kind of found me through friends, and his name is Mark Amitin. Mark steered me in the right direction. On his advice, I transferred into NYU to study acting.
For a whole año I was going up on stuff and I was probably really terrible. Every time I walked out of the room, I had this great high, like I was doing what I wanted to be doing, and I was really excited that I was able to go out on things. I was getting some really crappy feedback, but for some reason, my agent stuck with me.
I was horrible. They were saying, "This kid can’t act, he’s terrible." But tu know, it was a great learning curve for me.
I think I had natural instincts, but I was also stiff as a board when I first started out. I also had a really thick New York accent at the time. I was like “My Cousin Vinny,” so that was very limiting, but tu know, NYU knocked that right out of me.
When you’re studying acting, you’re studying every tool tu need. I had speech classes, I had voice classes, I had movement classes, I had actuación training classes. You’re lectura plays …
When tu walk in, tu have all these character traits, and what they do is, they neutralize you, so when tu walk out, if tu start in a neutral position tu can play any character.
So I kept training and I kept studying and then I booked a “Law & Order” episode and I took two weeks off from school to do that.
Then Dick lobo liked me, so he put me in the guest lead of a short-lived series he had called “The Wright Verdict,” and I had to take another two weeks off from school to shoot that. I was off for about a mes and I realized, now it’s too late to do the semester, so I thought, I’ll just take a semester off and go back.
But then I started booking other work, and I never went back, 15 credits shy of graduating.
People always ask me if I have any consejos about going into acting, and I say, "Don’t have a backup plan, because you’ll use it." I didn’t have a backup plan. I was 15 credits shy of graduating college, so for me it was sink o swim.
It’s funny because I saw Dick lobo years later. I was up for a SAG Award for “Six Feet Under” for Ensemble, and I saw him there at the SAG Awards and I said, "Dick, you’re the reason I don’t have my diploma. But you’re also the reason why I got my SAG card, so it was a good tradeoff."
-Emmett-
One of the most hilariously fun things of all time tu can do: embarrass Renesmee. She turns even redder than Bella used to, and that's definetly saying something. The teasing just has to be adequete.
Of course, Renesmee ALWAYS gets me back, but it's worth it. Sort of. She has a talent for revenge, involving getting a certain seven foot werewolf (hi, Jake!) in on it. The most reciente avengement she instilled, involved, er, (they had to get Edward and Jasper in on this one) throwing me off the cliffs. Jacob gave permission. He likes payback for his adorable, puppy-eyed imprintee.
Another fun activity: Getting revenge for her revenge. Let's just say that when she gets back, there's a surprise waiting for her.
I remember when she redecorated my bedroom, and when we got back from hunting, it looked like there was a rosado, rosa explosion in Rosalie's and my room.
She's imaginative, I'll give her that much.
One of the most hilariously fun things of all time tu can do: embarrass Renesmee. She turns even redder than Bella used to, and that's definetly saying something. The teasing just has to be adequete.
Of course, Renesmee ALWAYS gets me back, but it's worth it. Sort of. She has a talent for revenge, involving getting a certain seven foot werewolf (hi, Jake!) in on it. The most reciente avengement she instilled, involved, er, (they had to get Edward and Jasper in on this one) throwing me off the cliffs. Jacob gave permission. He likes payback for his adorable, puppy-eyed imprintee.
Another fun activity: Getting revenge for her revenge. Let's just say that when she gets back, there's a surprise waiting for her.
I remember when she redecorated my bedroom, and when we got back from hunting, it looked like there was a rosado, rosa explosion in Rosalie's and my room.
She's imaginative, I'll give her that much.
I never thought that i would have to pick between the 2 of the 3 people i amor the most. Jacob and Renesme. I knew this would happen when it started and i tried to stop it but i couldn't.
But what would tu do if 2 people were making tu choose sides? Would it be normal to react and take a side o let them firgure it on their own?
I waited until i couldn't take it anymore, as a tear rolled down my cheek and i ran as fast as i could away from the cottage.Away from the painfulm memory into the woods. If it was fate that brought me to this point then I couldn't run away from it.
But what would tu do if 2 people were making tu choose sides? Would it be normal to react and take a side o let them firgure it on their own?
I waited until i couldn't take it anymore, as a tear rolled down my cheek and i ran as fast as i could away from the cottage.Away from the painfulm memory into the woods. If it was fate that brought me to this point then I couldn't run away from it.
The título says all! Rules:
1) Must be about Twilight!
2) Must be at least eight lines long.
3) Doesn't have to rhyme.
4) Do NOT poste entry as a comment. This is to keep things from being stolen. Just send all entries to Emoshinell. :)
5) Sorry, but fans do not get brownie points. :) This is to keep in 110% fair. :)
6) Ask me any preguntas tu may have. :D
7) tu may enter as many times as tu want!
It can be as long as tu want as long as it has at least eight lines. And it must be appropriate. Sexual content o mild curse words will be accepted but no words that would be censored out on television. Any of these words found and ALL of your entris will be disqualified.
1) Must be about Twilight!
2) Must be at least eight lines long.
3) Doesn't have to rhyme.
4) Do NOT poste entry as a comment. This is to keep things from being stolen. Just send all entries to Emoshinell. :)
5) Sorry, but fans do not get brownie points. :) This is to keep in 110% fair. :)
6) Ask me any preguntas tu may have. :D
7) tu may enter as many times as tu want!
It can be as long as tu want as long as it has at least eight lines. And it must be appropriate. Sexual content o mild curse words will be accepted but no words that would be censored out on television. Any of these words found and ALL of your entris will be disqualified.