Why is Peter Facinelli such a crybaby?

“I started venting, and all of a sudden, tears sprung from my eyes and I couldn’t stop crying,” he admits to us. “Basically, I had a physical meltdown.”

Holy shift, indeed. Looks like tonight’s season premiere of Showtime’s Nurse Jackie will have us reaching for the Kleenex. We just met up with the whole cast and we’re hearing of more drama, more comedy and more consequences that come from Jackie’s (Edie Falco) double life.

But what brings on Peter’s waterworks? Spoiler Alert: It involves that vampire movie…

Peter, who plays Dr. Fitch “Coop” Cooper, is describing a great scene with him and Akalitus (Anna Deavere Smith) in the first episode of season two, airing tonight. Yep, Coop becomes a blubbering mess. And he wasn’t originally supposed to cry in the script!

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Where is Edie Falco when you need her?

Peter Facinelli, as “Nurse Jackie’s” Dr. Fitch Cooper, can’t get through this one scene without laughing. Standing on the All Saints Hospital set, nestled within Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, “Coop” is talking to a patient about his allergies, specifically about how a cat rubbing its rear in his face has caused his eyes to turn red and tear up. Every time he gets to the part about the cat’s caboose, Facinelli loses it.

At first, co-star Merritt Weaver, the director, the executive producers and the writers laugh with him. After about the seventh take, they’re less entertained. Finally, around take 10, Facinelli pulls it together.

“I actually had to pray to Edie to get through that scene,” says Facinelli, referring to Falco, who plays the title character, Jackie Peyton, and who wasn’t on set that morning. “She’s such a professional - not that she’s no fun, but if she were here, I could giggle in one or two takes, then she’d be like, ‘Okay, let’s do this.’

“I really did think of her,” adds Facinelli. “That’s how much I respect her.”

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