Twilight actor Peter Facinelli comes to Planet Comicon Kansas City next weekend

Courtesy Peter Facinelli

Peter Facinelli would like you to know that somewhere, buried deep within a résumé that spans more than 100 credits, there’s the occasional project even he occasionally forgets.

“Sometimes I’ll forget the name of a project that I did,” he says, laughing. “Someone will say, ‘Oh, you were in this movie I saw,’ and I can remember doing it, but I can’t remember the name. When you have that many credits, it’s like, I remember the experience, just not always the title.”

Courtesy Peter Facinelli

That kind of career amnesia is what happens when you’ve quietly built one of the most versatile filmographies in Hollywood.

And next weekend, Kansas City gets a front row seat to it when Facinelli rolls into Planet Comicon, joining a stacked lineup of pop culture royalty. Also, he may or may not be planning to eat his weight in barbecue.

Versatility — Thy Name is Facinelli

But before he was a vampire patriarch, a morally flexible doctor, or the guy you swear you’ve seen somewhere, Facinelli was just another actor trying to catch a break. Ask him what his “big break” was, and he deadpans, “I’m still waiting for it.”

It’s classic Facinelli. Self-aware, a little mischievous, and fully aware that his career has been anything but ordinary.

“My first movie was Angela,” he says. “I played Lucifer, the fallen angel. It was directed by Rebecca Miller, Arthur Miller’s daughter, and it went to Sundance in 1995. That was pretty cool. Then I did a Law & Order episode, which was also helpful. And then, Can’t Hardly Wait was probably the next big thing.”

From there, the résumé started stacking up. Six Feet Under. Fastlane. The Scorpion King. Seven seasons on Nurse Jackie. The entire Twilight saga. If it sounds like a career that zigzags across time and space …

… well, it is.

“Genre isn’t that important to me,” he explains. “It’s really about the characters and the story. You can take the same story and put it in space, or the 1800s, or the future. What makes you care is the character. The only reason I pay attention to genre is so I don’t get bored. If I do two comedies in a row, I’ll want to go do a drama or a sci-fi movie. I just don’t want to keep doing the same thing.”

That philosophy has paid off in one very specific way: everyone knows Peter Facinelli; they just don’t always necessarily know from where.

“People will say, ‘I love your work,’ and I have to kind of guess what they’ve seen,” he says. “I’ll look at someone and think, okay, maybe Fastlane? And they’ll say, ‘No, I loved you in Nurse Jackie.’ And I can’t imagine this big biker guy in front of me going, ‘I can’t go out tonight, fellas, I gotta watch Nurse Jackie.’”

He smiles.

“I always joke I try to make something for everybody,” he quips. “I’ve done action, comedy, drama, westerns. I don’t know if there’s a genre I haven’t done yet.”

Courtesy Peter Facinelli

Bloodshot Eyes … For The Win

Of course, for an entire generation, Facinelli will always be Dr. Carlisle Cullen, the impossibly composed vamp dad from the Twilight movies. Turns out, it’s a role he almost didn’t take. (And no, that’s not vampire lore either.)

“My agents called and said, ‘Do you want to do a vampire movie?’ and I said no,” he admits. “At the time, there were a lot of B vampire movies. Fun, but not something I was interested in.”

Then came a few key details.

“They said it was based on a book with a following, and Catherine Hardwicke was directing. I like to look at who’s involved,” he says. “If it’s someone interesting, it piques my curiosity. So, I took the audition.”

There was just one problem. No finalized script.

“I said, ‘Do you have a script?’ They said no, but it’s based on a book. So, I went and got the book and stayed up all night reading it,” he said. “I went to the audition with bloodshot eyes. I looked like I hadn’t slept in years.”

Apparently, that worked.

Looking back, Facinelli remembers the early days of Twilight as controlled chaos.

“The baseball scene was one of the first things we shot, and it was raining, people’s makeup was running, everyone was still figuring out their characters,” he says. “I remember going home thinking, I don’t think anyone’s going to see this movie. It was so chaotic.”

And yet, that same sequence became one of his favorites.

“It’s just a reminder that you don’t always know. Sometimes you think something’s not working, and then it comes together in a way you never expected.”

That sense of unpredictability is part of what keeps him engaged, even now. It’s also why he genuinely loves the convention circuit, where the work takes on a second life.

“I’m having a blast,” he says. “If I wasn’t on this side of the table, I’d be on the other side. I’m a fan too. You get to meet people from all over the world and see how the work affects them. That’s why I make this art.”

Courtesy Peter Facinelli

He Loves His Vamily

At conventions like Planet Comicon, that impact becomes tangible. Multi-generational, even.

“I see moms who saw Twilight when they were younger, now bringing their daughters. Or whole families who love it together,” he adds. “Movies are such a bonding experience. You’re all in a theater, laughing together, crying together, going on a journey together.”

And yes, he’s just as likely to be starstruck as anyone else in the room.

“I was on a plane once sitting between Lou Ferrigno and John Schneider from The Dukes of Hazzard, and I thought, this is my entire childhood,” he says. “Oh, and William Shatner. He’s an icon. It’s fun to be able to sit down and talk to people you grew up watching.”

At conventions, Facinelli lights up when talking about his Twilight co-stars, affectionately dubbed his “vamily,” a bond that’s outlasted the franchise itself. He describes them as a true family, still connected by a group chat that’s constantly buzzing. Seeing them at cons, he says, feels less like a reunion tour and more like a homecoming, equal parts nostalgia and goofy inside jokes. “I love them,” he says. “They’re like family to me. We have a chain we call the ‘vamily’ chain, and we’re always chatting with each other.”

Facinelli’s enthusiasm is disarmingly genuine, which makes his social media presence feel less like a branding exercise and more like an extension of that irreverent personality. Case in point: his recent viral riff on the “Dad, what did you look like in the 90s?” trend.

“Everyone was posting pictures of themselves looking cool,” he says. “So, I thought, what can I do different? I posted myself as Carlisle from the 1890s. I thought that was funny.”

It was. And it tracks. Facinelli has always had a knack for not taking himself too seriously, even when the roles themselves are larger than life.

That includes the occasional indulgence in life’s simpler pleasures. When asked what his guilty pleasure is, he didn’t mince words.

“Peanut M&Ms,” he says without hesitation. “I can’t have them in the house. If I start, I’m not stopping. You can’t just have three. It doesn’t work like that.”

He pauses, then adds what might be the most unexpectedly specific fever dream of any actor currently working.

“I’ve always wanted to do a photo shoot sitting in a bathtub full of peanut M&Ms. Just the ASMR of them rolling around. That would be amazing.”

Photographers worldwide, consider that your challenge.

Until then, Facinelli is focused on what’s next. He’s a fan of shows like Severance and The Last of Us, admiring the current golden age of television from both sides of the screen. (And, yes, casting directors, if you’re reading this, he’d love a role in both shows. Hint. Hint, hint.)

And when you happen to run into him at Planet Comicon, maybe skip the “I know you from somewhere” and go straight for specifics. Or don’t. He seems to enjoy the guessing game.

Just don’t challenge him to share his peanut M&Ms. That’s where he draws the line.

Interview gently edited for content and clarity. 

Planet Comicon Kansas City
March 27 – 29
Bartle Hall