Peter Facinelli - Brief Article - Interview

Interview, June, 2000 by Dave Stewart

LOOK OUT FOR THE ODD MAN OUT

DAVE STEWART: So what have you been doing recently?

PETER FACINELLI: I've got The Big Kahuna with Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito coming out. It's about three salesmen who are stuck in a room together and trying to land the biggest account of their careers. I play Bob, the newcomer.

DS: Was costarring with Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito a daunting experience?

PF: It was a challenging part because you're in a room with these two older, experienced guys and you don't want to get steamrolled by them. I just tried to play the character as truthfully as I could.

DS: And you play the lead in the movie I'm directing, Honest, which is coming out in Britain soon. It almost gives you a heart attack to realize we shot it in thirtysix days.

PF: It was a fun ride. Just when you think it's getting serious, there'll be a moment of black comedy. The Big Kahuna is similar in that it's comic but with a deep message at the end--"Be careful who you judge."

DS: Maybe you're destined to play the odd man out. You play an outsider in Honest, too--the only American in an all-British cast, a character who begins as a fish out of water but by the end has become our hero. How was it being the token American?

PF: I had the feeling you needed some dumb American in the movie to slap around. [laughs] But it was great to work with you. It was almost like musicians jamming.

DS: The film is finally all finished. The London premiere is near the square where you were shot naked.

PF: I don't think I could show my face there again.

DS: Well, you've shown everything else. So I hear that in addition to a dog you were photographed with a porcupine for the Interview shoot. Why did you go for the spiky variety of animal?

Because I'm a spiky kinda guy.

DS: Was the porcupine yours?

PF: No. They had one flown in especially for me.

DS: [laughs) What kind of pets do you have?

PF: Jennie [Garth], my fiancee, is a huge animal lover, so we've got lots. We've got a rabbit. We've got horses and a goat. Oodles of poodles.

DS: Blimey. I thought you lived in the center of L.A. I've got about forty-six rabbits here, but they're not exactly pets. They just run free in the grass.

PF: You've got to keep them away from each other. They multiply, you know.

DS: Oh yeah, I've noticed. And what else have you got?

PF: Well, my biggest animal is little LucaBella, my daughter.

DS: With your various flying-all-over-the-place jobs, and pets, and your daughter--how do you keep it all together?

PF: I don't know. It's a mystery to me. I think we're going to have to get a nanny just for the pets.

When he's not making movies, Dave Stewart is one half of the Eurythmics. Peter Facinelli, photographed with Twister, wears a shirt by Holland & Holland and pants by RUBIN CHAPELLE.