Aidan Quinn: 'It doesn’t take much for me to want to go back to West Cork'

The actor discusses his Irish-American upbringing, a memorable role in The Body is Water and why he has never chased stardom

Aidan Quinn by Shane O'Connor

At the 71st Academy Awards in 1999, Judi Dench won an Oscar for eight minutes of screen time in Shakespeare in Love, while in 1977, a five-minute monologue in Network secured Beatrice Straight hers, proving that brevity is no barrier to achieving Hollywood’s highest honour. If mastery of craft does indeed trump minutes on screen, then Aidan Quinn should be a shoo-in for his brief, bravura turn in writer-director Vicky Waldron Wight’s latest film, The Body is Water.

The film follows grieving father David, played by Isiah Whitlock Jr, who moves from Texas to a remote West Cork coastal village, hoping to disappear — but the villagers won’t let him.