Peter Facinelli and Jennie Garth know when their daughters try to put one over on them. The “Nurse Jackie” alum revealed his No. 1 co-parenting advice is to be on the same page as your ex — at least in front of the kids.
“I always feel like as long as the parents, the co-parents are getting along and we’re happy. The kids are happy. You know what I mean? It’s when nobody wants to choose sides. No, they love mom and dad equally,” Facinelli, told the Post while promoting his new film, “On Fire.”
“As long as they feel safe in both homes and they have the support of both families,” he added. “And as long as both co-parents are on the same side in terms of what the rules are in the house.”
The actor, 49, noted that “the worst thing” is “when you’re not in agreement.”
“Then the kids, especially in their teen years, will play one off the other,” he explained. “Even if you’re not together, married, it’s important to stay unified [with] co-parenting and the decisions you make for the kids. And also even if you aren’t in agreement, to not show that, to not show that to the kids. Stay in agreement with each other always and then have those conversations offline on the sides and get an agreement.”
“When you’re not in agreement, it’s tough to parent, co-parent. And when you’re also not getting along, are fighting with each other, it makes the kids feel bad,” he continued. “It’s important to really stay unified and to make sure that your relationship is a positive one. And the kids look up to both of you in that regard so that there’s no sides to pick.”
Facinelli and the “Beverly Hills, 90210” alum, 51, who are parents of daughters Luca, 26, Lola, 20, and Fiona, 17, met on the set of 1996’s “An Unfinished Affair.” They tied the knot in January 2001 and announced their split in March 2012 after nearly 11 years of marriage.
“We both share the same deep love and devotion to our children. We remain dedicated to raising our beautiful daughters together,” the pair wrote in a joint statement at the time. They finalized their divorce in June 2013.
The “Can’t Hardly Wait” actor moved on with actress Lily Anne Harrison, the daughter of actor Gregory Harrison. The couple welcomed son Jack in September 2022.
“Happy ‘Labor’ Day, @lilyanneharrison ❤️ Sept 5th, 2022 🍼👶🏼,” the “Twilight” actor captioned an Instagram photo of their little one’s hand at the time.
The Hallmark star, 34, publicly announced her pregnancy in June while speaking at a RomaDrama convention panel in West Palm Beach, Florida.
“[I’m] very pregnant,” she said on social media afterward. “Not a burrito belly.”
In the comment section, Facinelli quipped: “You’re pregnant? 😳 Why didn’t you tell me?”
Garth, for her part, married actor-restauranteur Dave Abrams in July 2015. In November 2017, they announced they were taking time apart, but ultimately reconciled.
Facinelli has been staying busy since welcoming his youngest. He starred and co-directed the film “On Fire,” which follows a family who flee their trailer home as they try to survive a sudden wildfire.
Facinelli received the script more than a year ago, noting how timely the film is amid the recent Maui wildfire tragedy.
“It kind of drops you in to what these victims are experiencing,” Facinelli told the Post of the film. “There’s one operator helping us through the evening. And it gives you a little bit of what they go through. When we think of our own operators, they don’t get the credit they deserve because they’re not running into the fire or first of the line of fire as a police officer. But they have other people’s lives on the other end of that phone. Very stressful job.”
Calling it “art imitating life,” the actor said he likes to “play different roles and try different genres.”
“I always say if you put all my characters of over 30 years in a room it would be a fun time because they’re all so different and look a little different. This is another character I could have in that room that’s a little different than everybody else,” he continued. “And to collect all those characters, it’s part of the fun of what acting is to me, to step into other people’s shoes. And so what I look for next is just more of what I haven’t done before.”
SAG-AFTRA has approved an interim agreement for “On Fire” since the film is being released by Cineverse, an independent, non-AMPTP affiliated distributor.
“I’m really proud with this film that we’re the first movie going to theaters under the SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement because it helps them in their negotiations. And I fought for my actors in this movie,” Facinelli said, noting he just walked in from a SAG-AFTRA strike picket line before the interview.
He added that he hopes SAG members, who have been on strike since July 14, get a “great deal that they carve out” and that “the strike will be over” soon.
Source link
