Jennie Garth Looking Forward to End of 'Twilight,' Wants Husband Back

"We could become a traveling circus -- go with him wherever he goes and homeschool the kids. But they're enjoying having regular quiet lives, and we like them to be able to have that."

The 'Twilight' phenom brings other stresses to the family as well, as in some of fame's less appealing side effects. Are people genuinely interested in being friends, or is it Carlisle they want to get next to? For the eldest Facinelli daughter, who is 13, the question comes up again and again.

"I was with her at a soccer tournament over the weekend, and there was a gaggle of girls walking by, and one of them said, 'Have you guys seen the super hot 'Twilight' guy?' -- having no idea that was her dad. She said, 'Mom, did you hear those girls?' They were looking for him, having no idea he's across the country right now."

Jennie notes, "In her world, she doesn't like it to be a big deal. But she's very proud of him."

Part one of 'Breaking Dawn' debuts Nov. 18; the second half is set for Nov. 16, 2012.

Jennie also makes her pride and support clear. "He's on a roll, he's on fire right now. It's a great time for him," says the actress, who parted ways with the CW's current '90210' more than a year ago. "I've really been focusing on the family and the girls and keeping things normal for them. Whether it's a sacrifice or not, I don't know -- but it's definitely what I want to be doing. I want him to take this time for himself and make the most of it. And besides, with him as the breadwinner, that dynamic works for a marriage."


What also works for a marriage -- a marriage of actors, to be specific -- is when one spouse writes a movie for his other half and then winds up getting to produce it as a made-for-cable film. That's the case with the Facinellis' 'Accidentally in Love,' the Feb. 12 Hallmark Channel Original movie that Peter created, with Jennie as the star. Schedule conflicts and Jennie's view that Peter wasn't right for the role are among the reasons they cite for bringing in a different leading man, Ethan Erickson.

"When I envisioned it, I didn't see my husband playing it. I felt this character should be more...sort of an all-American actor guy," she says hesitantly, no doubt groping for adjectives that won't cast any negative light on either Peter or Ethan. "It doesn't make sense when I try to explain it, to him either. I would never want to pigeonhole him," she says.

Erickson's character is an actor whose greatest career success so far is inhabiting a bunny suit on a hit kids' show -- to his great chagrin. Romance ensues after he gets into a fender bender with Jennie's character, a struggling widow and mother of an angelic little daughter whose favorite show is...you guessed it. Marilu Henner and Fred Willard also star in the fun romantic comedy.

"I loved it when I first read it. It was his first script, and I was so surprised by his writing talent," Jennie confesses. "There was a lot of great humor in the script, some of which we lost just due to time constraints, but it's still there."

For Jennie, playing her role "was easy to do. I had had the script for so long on my bedside table, really. This character is a strong, sort of spunky woman and that's sort of who I am. So it was not this huge, massive acting stretch for me. It was just a matter of making it natural with a new daughter and a new love interest."

The latter entailed kissing -- and Peter reportedly gave Jennie a pep talk to help her get psyched up for the scene. She laughs at the memory.

"I've had to do that a million times. You have to just put your anxieties aside
and make it look real."

Hubby also got to pick out his wife's on-screen love interest -- with her guidance, naturally. "We were looking at everybody's work together and trying to decide who would be best. It was weird, but it was probably weirder when I said he wasn't right for the role," she comments.

Despite her ease with her part, Jennie insists she was nervous about Peter's response. "I thought, 'What if I don't bring this character to life the way he envisioned it?' But he was happy with what I did."

Now, "I'm trying to get him to write me another movie. It's great to have a writer husband. But he doesn't have any time. He just shot another script he wrote in the summer," Jennie says, referring to Facinelli's upcoming 'Loosies' film, a tale of a New York pickpocket, in which he stars alongside Michael Madsen and Joe Pantoliano of 'The Sopranos' fame. "And he's in rewrites for another movie he's going to shoot this summer," she adds.

The Facinellis met in 1996 when they co-starred in the TV movie 'An Unfinished Affair.' As for when they might work together in front of the camera again, Jennie says she doesn't know. "I love his work on 'Nurse Jackie.' I'm a big fan of the show," she enthuses, referring to the Showtime series (returning March 28) in which he plays Edie Falco's out-there medical comrade, Dr. Fitch "Coop" Cooper. "He does dark comedy so well, and I love comedy."

For Jennie herself, "I have no desire to do films that take me away from my daughters, or a series with 14-hour days. I'm writing a children's book right now. I'm trying to do things I can do while being home. If a movie comes up, I'm going to have to shoot it where I live. I'm not going to sacrifice my family."

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