Aidan Quinn has successfully managed to keep his private life out of the limelight for many years, despite having starred in some huge Hollywood blockbusters.
The actor, who was born in New York to Irish parents, is famed for portraying Harry Boland in the hit film Michael Collins. However, he is not the only person in his family who has been bitten by the acting bug.
As he speaks out about his daughter's diagnosis, here's what we know about Aidan's life away from the screen...
The sweet way he met his wife, Elizabeth
Aidan has been married to his partner Elizabeth Bracco for more than three decades after they tied the knot in 1987.
The pair boasts a fairytale love story, having been introduced in the sweetest way. They met way back at Cafe Central, which Aidan describes as 'an old actors' hangout'.
In a lucky coincidence, the actor had just auditioned with a friend who was dining with Elizabeth. Aidan, who was sitting alone, was then joined by the two girls and as they say, the rest is history!
'It's a terrible, terrible cliche. This is so corny but I did one of those things where I thought "I know you" and we have been together ever since that night,' Aidan recalled on the US talk show Live With Kelly and Mark, adding that he knew 'there was something there' that he had 'never felt before'.
The pair have been together for 37 years, and still appear to be going strong!
Working together
Despite having qualms about Aidan being an actor during their initial introduction, Elizabeth eventually decided to go into the profession herself.
Aidan can't take all of the credit, as she also has a famous sister, Goodfellas actress Lorraine Bracco.
Aidan and Elizabeth starred alongside each other in the movie Stakeout, which was released the same year they tied the knot.
Family Life
The couple shares two daughters, Mia, who they welcomed in 1998, and Ava Eileen, who was born the year after, making the girls Irish twins.
It seems that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in the Quinn family, as the girls have also entered into the same profession as their parents. Ava appeared as baby David in the film Avalon, alongside her dad, while Mia played a ghost in The Eclipse.
While the family resides in New York, Aidan was in Ireland in 2024 to read playwright Sam Shepard's Ages of the Moon at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, alongside Steve Buscemi.
In 2025, Aidan filmed RTÉ drama The Walsh sisters, which also stars Danielle Galligan, Mairead Tyers, Louise Harland and Jay Duffy among others, in Ireland.
Ava's diagnosis
While promoting The Walsh Sisters, Aidan spoke with the Irish Independent about his life and family, revealing that his daughter Ava was diagnosed with autism when she was two.
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.'
Ava, now 36, lives in a residential care home and comes back to the Quinn household in New Jersey at the weekends.
