So I just talked to Peter Facinelli, a.k.a. Dr. Carlisle Cullen over the phone. Yes I was tempted to scream into the phone, but I controlled myself.
Peter Facinelli
Facinelli will soon be making an Inland visit. He'll host a fundraising event at the Temecula Promenade Saturday, signing autographs (for a fee) and selling photographs, with proceeds going to UNICEF for Haiti Earthquake victims.
"Whenever I have time - once or twice a month - I try to do some type of charity fundraiser," Facinelli said.
The charity he most often works with is Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, a childhood cancer foundation.
"That's an important one to me," he said. "We've raised $10,000 at one of these for Alex's Lemonade Stand. And $10,000 for the Dornbecker Children's Hospital another time.
"Because of what happened in Haiti, we decided to have the Twilighters come out for UNICEF to provide Haiti relief."
And speaking of 'Twilight.' Facinelli's life has changed a bit since the madness began. But he already had quite a body of work before the Cullens came on screen, including "Riding in Cars With Boys" in 2001, "Scorpion King" in 2002, a leading role in the Fox drama "Fastlane" and a recurring role in HBO's "Six Feet Under" in 2004, the current role of Gregory Malina in FX's TV series, "Damages" and in all his spare time he's also frequently on the Showtime series, "Nurse Jackie."
While he was recognized in public before, things went to a whole new level after "Twilight" hit the big screen. Just this morning a fan showed up on his front door step, picture in hand, ringing the doorbell. He didn't answer.
"I'm in the Celebrity Witness Protection Program," Facinelli joked. "I keep my location undisclosed."
He also mentioned that 60,000 people showed up at one of these fundraising/signing events, so plan for crowds Saturday.
Facinelli is married to actress Jennie Garth and has three children ages 3, 7 and 12 - all girls. He enjoys the role of Dr. Carlisle Cullen very much and finds some similarities between himself and the character.
"I am the patriarch of a family and I do feel compassion for people," he said. "I enjoyed the books and it's a lot of fun for me to have some say in how the character is portrayed."
The kids Luca Bella, Lola Ray and Fiona Eve are excited about the roles Dad plays.
"My 12-year-old has read the first two 'Twilight' books," he said. "And they've seen the movies."
Facinelli will be at the Promenade Saturday, Feb. 6, from noon to 6 p.m. Autographs will cost $25 and photos will be on sale for $40.
If you miss this weekend's event, he may be back in the near future.
"We're coordinating another event in Rancho Cucamonga, probably in a couple weeks," he said.
When asked about any 'Twilight' updates, he didn't have any new information.
"Usually the fans know before I do," he said. "I do know there's some debate about the last book being made into two movies. But I haven't heard yet."