Of course, Twilight was supposed to be just another teen vampire love story.
Sure, Stephanie Meyer's books were popular, but Hollywood has a long tradition of taking popular books and turning them into disappointing movies.
With Twilight though, they somehow got it right.
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Despite the fact that they were dealing with a largely unknown cast. And a solid if unremarkable director. And a book that could have been written by a young Mormon housewife and mother-of-three living in the dullest city America has to offer, Salt Lake City. Which it was.
And let's not forget, this is a story that has been told many, many times before. Just ask Buffy Summers.
Nonetheless, this particular tale of forbidden fruit – Meyer attempting to turn the Mormons' belief in no sex before marriage into something cool – struck a chord. Mainly with girls. And those housewives who really wished they could go back and do it for the first time all over again. With Edward Cullen. The 107-year old high school heartthrob who would rather suffer an eternity of loneliness and frustration – being the young gentleman vampire that he is - rather than ravish the girl he loves, thus condemning her to a clandestine, blood-gargling life. That never ends.
By the time Twilight opened here in December last year, the $37m movie had already enjoyed a $35.7m opening weekend in the US. By the end of the year, it was a worldwide box-office sensation, and Meyer had become the biggest selling author of 2008, selling over 29 million books in that year alone. The young Mormon housewife and mother-of-three living in the dullest city America has to offer now earns over $50m a year.
It's enough to make Dan Brown rip some tweed.
For Peter Facinelli, the phenomenal success of Twilight, and the fevered expectation surrounding its sequel, New Moon (out here on November 20th), has been nothing short of mind-boggling.
“I've been in this business for quite a few years,” smiles the 35-year old actor, who plays Dr. Carlisle Cullen, the patriarch of the Twilight saga's vampire family, “and I'm not exactly in the first flush of youth, so, I was able to stay on my feet when the madness started. But it still had me reeling. You know every generation latches on to some film, some book, band, TV show, whatever, but to actually be a part of one of those phenomenons... well, it's like being in the eye of the storm – the storm being lots and lots of screaming girls.”
That Facinelli has three screaming girls all of his own at home – the eldest, Luca Bella, having recently turned 12 - meant that he was able to put the teenage wildlife surrounding all things Twilight into some kind of perspective. He and the missus, fellow thesp Jennie Garth, were both enjoying healthy careers long before Edward Cullen spotted Bella Swan across the Forks High School canteen. Facinelli broke through with TV's Fastlane in 2002, going on to the likes of Six Feet Under and Damages; Garth broke through in Beverly Hills 90210, and is currently in its resurrection, 90210.
“I already had plenty of work before Twilight came along, and I had already quite a bit of work I signed up for too, but the success of the franchise has certainly put a strange spin on my career. It's like, you have a reputation that's slowly building within the industry, and then, boom, you have this monster sitting right in the middle of your CV. It didn't change the picture exactly, but it certainly warped it. In a good way.”
Currently on our screens alongside Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie, Facinelli also has The Absinthe Drinker, opposite John Hurt and Tim Roth, and Thicker, opposite Guy Pearce and John Goodman, heading our way. Hollywood, and the Cullens, permitting. The third Twilight outing, Eclipse, is currently filming, the studio behind the phenomenon, Summit Entertainment, determined to put Meyer's four books up on the screen before the cast start showing their age. They realise they've got Harry Potter With Fangs on their hands. Their leading man is supposed to look 17. Forever.
“There's definitely a pressure to get these films made as soon as physically possible,” nods Facinelli. “It's like some kind of supermarket sweep going on – no one wants to wait in case something changes - in case someone changes. There's so much money at stake now, it's become a different kind of experience.”
A better experience – given the bigger budget – or a more difficult one, given the heightened expectations?
“It's certainly better in terms of the budget, yeah, and knowing that there's an audience ready, willing and able to embrace the movie you're making,” answers Facinelli, “but there's that side to it too where you can't help but be aware of the expectation. First and foremost, in the fans – that reaction to the launch of the New Moon trailer was pretty wild – but also to all these people putting this movie out there. There's a big wheel turning here, and it's all down to the work you're doing on set. That can feel pretty weird at times, knowing that any given scene you're shooting is going to be watched over again and again by certain people.”
Our time is almost up, so, time for a few short, sharp questions.
Such as, despite the fact that he's a good-looking man with a hot wife, three beautiful daughters and a glittering Hollywood career, there must be a part of Peter Facinelli that's incredibly jealous of this young London punk, Robert Pattinson?
“Oh, a big, big part,” he laughs. “Rob's getting all this attention, all these adoring fans, and, you know, he's just one of the gang on set. We joke about it a lot – he is just a young guy who suddenly has to cope with all these crazy girls, every single day of his life. I don't think I could ever be jealous of that. Well, maybe just a little bit.”
Facinelli must realise too, of course, that just about every interview he – or Rob, Kristen or Taylor – does for the next few years will be headlined Interview With The Vampire?
“Yeah, I think we've seen that one quite a few times already,” he laughs. “There are only so many puns you can use, I guess, when it comes to vampires. Promise you won't use that old warhorse though – or I'll rip your throat out...”
Also check out more of our Twilight content.
Watch our video interview with Robert Pattinson
Watch our video interview with Kirtsten Stewart
Interview with Taylor Lautner
Interview with Sam Uley/Chaske Spencer
Watch our video interview with Peter Facinelli (Dr Carlisle Cullen)
Twilight - New Moon is out now on DVD
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