Today, Quinn is raising two children, a boy and girl, with his wife of 16 years, Julie McCann. The couple ferry the 5-year-old twins back and forth to school on the backs of matching Vespas.
He works regularly on television, with 80 episodes to his credit. He has played a Farsi-speaking terrorist on "JAG," the recurring villain Syed Ali on "24" and is a regular character in the final season of "The Shield," which begins airing next month. He's also appeared in two dozen feature films, including opposite his father in the 1990 production of Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea," playing the lead character as a young man.
He costars with Luke Perry in the upcoming western "The Pledge," to air on the Hallmark Channel, and appears with Dennis Hopper in the motorcycle gang drama "Hell Ride," executive produced by Quentin Tarantino, due in the fall. He also plays a guitar instructor and mentor to a troubled Vietnam vet in the upcoming "Broken Promises," set in South Texas.
Quinn seems to get along well with co-workers nowadays. Asprey, his current costar, who's staying in the Quinns' guest room during her visit from England for the Oscars, says he was a pleasure to work with on "The Tonto Woman." Yet there's still an edgy impatience to his personality. At the restaurant, he fussed in Italian with the staff over the pasta and the dessert. You can see why taking long daily rides on his motorcycle would be good for him.
Any regrets?
"I've lived an amazing life," says Quinn, who visualizes an Oscar statuette for good karma. "There's no reason to focus on the bad. They teach you that in racing school. Keep your eye where you want your front tire to be. You don't want to be stuck in the rut? Then don't look at the rut. Always look at where you want to go."
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agustin.gurza@latimes.com
