Peter Facinelli: Speaking Queens English
da 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 successivo 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 Leggere 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 successivo time they asked, I detto 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 anno at St. John's University, and I’m studying pre-law, and I take an recitazione 101 class and I Amore 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 detto 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 anno 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 te 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 te know, NYU knocked that right out of me.
When you’re studying acting, you’re studying every tool te need. I had speech classes, I had voice classes, I had movement classes, I had recitazione training classes. You’re Leggere plays …
When te walk in, te have all these character traits, and what they do is, they neutralize you, so when te walk out, if te start in a neutral position te 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 lupo 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 mese 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 consigli 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 lupo 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."
da 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 successivo 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 Leggere 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 successivo time they asked, I detto 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 anno at St. John's University, and I’m studying pre-law, and I take an recitazione 101 class and I Amore 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 detto 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 anno 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 te 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 te know, NYU knocked that right out of me.
When you’re studying acting, you’re studying every tool te need. I had speech classes, I had voice classes, I had movement classes, I had recitazione training classes. You’re Leggere plays …
When te walk in, te have all these character traits, and what they do is, they neutralize you, so when te walk out, if te start in a neutral position te 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 lupo 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 mese 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 consigli 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 lupo 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."
I'm sooo sooo sooo sorry i haven't postato in like forever but I have a MAJOR writer's block. I will try to post più of my Unspoken story when i do not have writer's block
sincerely,
kayla
srry for all the extra space
sincerely,
kayla
srry for all the extra space
So I like giving summarys so here it is:
The Voltri adopt a Special little girl.But what is so special about her?And Why does every vampire want her?Aro decides to hide the girl with an old friend. But with who?
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[ARO POV]
As I watch Vannessa walk amongst us I can't help but wonder what the child will be like.Vannessa being 9 months pregnant I feel the tension.The child will be Powerful.I know it.
"Aro?" A small but firece voice says.
"Yes Jane?"I always wonder if Jane is jelouse of the young one about to unisciti us.
"It's time."She states.I nod my head and head for Vannessas room.I can smell her blood from here.My throat burns with the thirst.This is the beginning of a new Era.
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Hope te Liked IT!!!! PLease REview!!!!! MOre to come soon!!!!!!
The Voltri adopt a Special little girl.But what is so special about her?And Why does every vampire want her?Aro decides to hide the girl with an old friend. But with who?
--------------------------------------------------
[ARO POV]
As I watch Vannessa walk amongst us I can't help but wonder what the child will be like.Vannessa being 9 months pregnant I feel the tension.The child will be Powerful.I know it.
"Aro?" A small but firece voice says.
"Yes Jane?"I always wonder if Jane is jelouse of the young one about to unisciti us.
"It's time."She states.I nod my head and head for Vannessas room.I can smell her blood from here.My throat burns with the thirst.This is the beginning of a new Era.
--------------------------------------------------
Hope te Liked IT!!!! PLease REview!!!!! MOre to come soon!!!!!!