Peter Facinelli Talks Nurse Jackie and Twilight

The doctor is in... demand! Whether he's vamping out in the Twilight flicks, writing screenplays (like February's Hallmark original Accidentally in Lovestarring wife Jennie Garth) or giving us a Monday-night fix as Dr. Fitch Cooper on Nurse Jackie, Peter Facinelli is one busy man. And it sounds like things are about to get even more hectic for All Saints' resident lab-coated man-child.

TV Guide Magazine: How do you keep Cooper such a likable loser without him becoming a caricature?
Facinelli: I remember during the first season, people would say "Oh, you play the a--hole on Nurse Jackie." And I thought, is he? I see him more as a child. Coop never acts in malice... he just says whatever he's thinking. No filter.

TV Guide Magazine: It's been a pretty rough run for him lately with his lesbian moms divorcing and all that, huh?
Facinelli: It was actually kind of difficult to play Cooper this season. There were a few episodes where he was really depressed and I usually play him with such high energy, so to have him walking around being down was hard.

TV Guide Magazine: Are things going to improve for him?
Facinelli: Yes. With losing his moms, he decides that he is going to start his own family. [Laughs] He gets it into his head that he will get married... and this is before he even finds a woman!

TV Guide Magazine: This can't end well. So what can you tell us about the final "Twilight" films?
Facinelli: Bill Condon directed them so I was excited to work with him, and the scripts were great. The fans are really gonna love them. 

TV Guide Magazine: So who is the better doctor, Cooper or Carlisle Cullen?
Facinelli: I would say Carlisle, since he has more years on Coop. Although I think Coop can be a good doctor, depending on what day it is. [Laughs] He can either cure you of cancer or kill you with an ear infection.

Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!