Aidan Quinn aiming for West End role

Aidan Quinn has revealed plans to appear on the London stage later this year.

The film star says he hopes to star in a production of The Exonerated, a play about the death penalty, in the West End in either October or November.

He is hoping to persuade Vanessa Redgrave to co-star in the play with him.

Quinn is currently promoting his latest film, Song For A Raggy Boy, at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

The film is about a teacher who gets work at a Catholic school in Ireland in the late 1930's. The teacher helps transform the life of the pupils but not without serious consequences.

Quinn says he jumped at the chance to play a teacher on film: "They're one of the most under-valued, under-paid professions in the world and one of the most important."

Song For A Raggy Boy is the third film Quinn has made in Ireland in the space of a year, he says he's happy to be carving out a career independent of Hollywood.

"I've always worked in independent films but I suppose I do it more now because that's where I find the more interesting parts," he said.

"I'm not offered the lead roles in Hollywood movies now, it's just the way it is. I don't have any qualms about doing any kind of film as long as it's something I care about."