By Sinead Dalton

Copyright evoke

A true Hollywood heartthrob, Aidan Quinn is also a dedicated family man with two grown-up daughters, Ava and Mia.

Being a movie star isn’t exactly a nine-to-five job, and when his daughter Ava was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, Aidan and his wife, Elizabeth, had to make some big changes, particularly when it came to their work.

Aidan has worked with some of the best in the business, including Liam Neeson, but at the end of the day, it is his family that will always come first.

Aidan was in town this month for the premiere of the upcoming RTÉ series The Walsh Sisters, where he plays ‘Daddy’ Walsh- a show that has been adapted from best-selling author Marian Keyes.

Sitting down with the Irish Independent, Aidan reflected on his own life and the challenges he faced as a dad and a husband.

After his daughter’s diagnosis, he said, ‘I had to make a serious commitment to be home six months a year, because it was tough taking care of her as a single parent. Really tough. So, you know, ambitious things like – the normal ambition that people would have – Once you have someone with profound autism or a profound health thing, it just doesn’t mean as much to you.’

Together since they were 25, Aidan’s wife, Elizabeth Bracco, had to quit her job in order to look after their daughter. As this was the early 90s, awareness as well as support was very limited, and the family found themselves moving from New York to New Jersey to find better care.

‘When you pull back, look, I know I’ve had a very fortunate and great career if I look at the big picture. It’s not without its struggles, but I’ve had a wonderful career. And, also, I think spirituality and philosophically, the nuts and bolts of ambition about a career, they diminish greatly when you’re dealing with something as deep and as labour-intensive as profound autism.’

Ava, now 36, lives in a residential care home, where she comes back to the Quinn household at the weekends.

While the family still live in America, Aidan still keeps an eye on everything that is going on at home, and in particular, the work that has been done for those with the condition,

He told the publication, ‘It’s a long journey of grieving, and then resilience, and then enjoying what you have and keeping a sense of humour, because it gets macabre. Sometimes it’s really macabre, and you just have to laugh. You realise at this point, you know, this is a lifelong thing that’s going to be severe for the rest of her life.