New York City–born Peter Facinelli appeared in several productions at the NYU-affiliated Atlantic Theater Company before making his feature film debut as the devil in Rebecca Miller's Angela (1995). The handsome young actor caught the attention of critics and audiences as Bret, a teenage hustler surviving on the mean streets of Hollywood, in the TV-movie The Price of Love (Fox, 1995). Facinelli then played Tim Matheson's son and the target of his father's jealous ex-lover (Jennie Garth) in An Unfinished Affair (ABC, 1996). Other TV roles followed, including the pivotal part of the teen who committed suicide in After Jimmy (CBS, 1996) and a college dropout pursuing his dream of a life as a fisherman against his family's wishes in Calm at Sunset, a 1996 CBS presentation of Hallmark Hall of Fame. Facinelli co-starred with Amanda Peet and Michael Vartan in the AIDS-themed drama Touch Me (1997) before co-starring as a high school student in two 1998 features, Dancer, Texas Pop. 81, with Ethan Embry and Breckin Meyer, and Can't Hardly Wait, about a graduation night bash that co-starred Embry and Meyer, as well as Melissa Joan Hart, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Jerry O'Connell.

While he and his wife Jennie Garth welcomed their first child (Luca Bella) in 1997, Facinelli also found his career settling into a comfortable groove. He had a feature role in the Jennifer Love Hewitt teen hit Can't Hardly Wait in 1999, and appeared in the sci-fi film Supernova starring Kevin Spacey in 2000. Solid roles in Riding in Cars With Boys in 2001 and Scorpion King in 2002 were soon followed by a leading role in the hit Fox drama Fastlane, and a second daughter (Lola Ray) for the Facinelli-Garth household.

After his recurring role in HBO's critically acclaimed series Six Feet Under in 2004, Facinelli tacked a few more films on to his resume, and then starred in A&E's made for TV movie, Touch the Top of the World, the true-life story of Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind man ever to reach the top of Mount Everest. Since then, Peter has added a third daughter (Fiona Eve) to his expanding family, and tackled the role of Gregory Malina in FX's hit TV series Damages. After wrapping up Finding Amanda with Matthew Broderick, Facinelli joined the cast of the highly anticipated feature film Twilight as Dr. Carlisle Cullen, the patriarch of the mysterious vampire family, living in the small town of Forks, WA. The film is adapted from Stephenie Meyer's New York Times best seller. With another television series in the works for Showtime called Nurse Jackie, and no sign of slowing down, fans can rest assured that Facinelli will continue to provide the outstanding character portrayals that he is known for, for a long time to come.