To most Americans, Peter Facinelli is known first and foremost Dr. Carlisle Cullen, the head of a family of vampires from the “Twilight” films. To others, he’s livier Dr. Fitch Cooper on the HBO series “Nurse Jackie.” But it won’t be long before the Queens native is more widely recognized for his screenwriting talents, as are evidenced by his new film “Loosies,” which he wrote in under three weeks.
“I remember being on the subway and just started thinking about pickpockets,” Facinelli says of his initial ideas about the film, which centers on a man forced to commit petty crimes in order to pay back his deceased father’s gambling debts. “I just started thinking about, what is this pickpocket’s life like? I did a lot of daydreaming about his world and then I came up with that story and just sat down and it all kind of came out and went down on paper.”
Though this is Facinelli’s first feature film script, he hopes to get into directing in the near future. He’s currently in the process of putting together a team for his far darker script: “El Chico Blanco.” He’s got plenty of fans from his acting work, but Facinelli hopes to create a more multifaceted career for himself, modeled after some of his idols.
“I started acting because I was inspired by Paul Newman and Robert Redford from a movie called ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,’” he says. “If I could have a fraction of their careers, that would be great. Robert Redford still makes movies, still acts in movies. He produces, he writes, he directs. Hopefully I’ll get there. It’s a good start.”
