Irish Eyes

Moving from Roseanne, Glenn Quinn is fighting other ugly monsters in Angel
by Steven Eramo

We all need someone to lend us a hand from time to time, no matter how old we are. In the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off Angel, Buffy's ex-boyfriend and 244-year-old vampire Angel has pulled up stakes in the small California town of Sunnydale and relocated to the City of Angels. He has come to Los Angeles to save misguided individuals who are threatened by the evils and temptations lurking beneath the city's glitzy facade and, in turn, perhaps redeem his own lost soul.

Angel is aided by Doyle, a disreputable spiritual mentor who as been sent by 'The Powers That Be,' a mysterious and powerful force trying to make things right. The half-human, half-demon must keep a balance between good and evil while guiding Angel on his path to redemption. However, according to sexy, silver-tongued Irishman Glenn Quinn, who plays Doyle, his character has some vices that occasionally distract him from the task at hand.

"Doyle is a gambler, a hustler and a street-type hood who's drafted into helping Angel. Sort of like Yoda from Star Wars but with a cocktail," jokes the actor. "I mean, he's the last person, or demon, for the job, really, because he'd rather be out cruising the bars or at the race track playing the ponies, you know? This is his duty, though, and we don't know why yet but he's atoning for his past sins and whatever harm he's caused to others.

"My character has visions, that's the gift Doyle has been given from the higher powers, whoever they are. It's during one of these 'spasms' that he sees the name or face of someone who needs help. He passed this information on to Angel and together they go check things out. So not only is the audience trying to figure out what the hell is going on, Angel and Doyle are, too, and it's interesting to watch how each story unfolds."

American Re-Run

Quinn first became known to American television viewers back in 1990 when he played Mark Healy, the troubled but lovable son-in-law on the hit ABC blue collar comedy series Roseanne. What began as a guest-starring role for the actor turned into a seven season stint as a regular character until the show ended in 1997. Angel marks his return to primetime series work in the United States.

"I took a year off to rest after Roseanne and went back to Ireland," says Quinn. "One of the first auditions I had when I returned to the States was for the part of Doyle. I had never really watched Buffy but I was familiar with its creator Josh Whedon, who also directed the first episode of Angel.

"I thought the character was right up my alley so I went in and tested for it. There were probably 80 or 90 people in the room including some network executives from Warner Bros, casting directors, producers, and David Boreanaz, who plays Angel. I read the lines using an American accent and afterwards Josh suggested to me, 'Why don't you try it with the Irish accent,' so I did. At that point everything seemed to click and an hour later I got a call asking, 'Do you want the part?' and I said, 'Definitely!' Josh has done a great job creating a multi-layered and interesting character and has allowed me to bring my own brand of Irishness to Doyle."

Man on a Mission

In Angel's pilot episode City Of, Angel barely has time to settle into his new digs when Doyle unexpectedly arrives on the scene. "I show up in Angel's apartment he's like, 'Who the hell are you?' and I tell him, 'I'm Doyle, man, I'm here to help you. We have a mission.' I basically bring him up to speed on what's happening and explain to him that he has got to get in there with humans and mix it up in order to learn how to truly care about them," explains Quinn.

"They spend a lot of time walking and talking through the first episode but then Doyle comes up with the name of some girl who's in trouble and Angel goes off to rescue her. Doyle, in turn, helps him but at the same time he doesn't really want to get in the middle of any violence. He's just the messenger and, in truth, a little chicken, but when it comes right down to it Angel knows he can rely on him. So the two guys get pretty tight and Doyle works hard to bring Angel out of his shell. Viewers are going to see a terrific sense of humour coming from Angel thanks to my character, who can occasionally be a goof.

"Shooting City Of was certainly an eye-opener for me as an actor," he continues. "When I opened the script the first thing I saw was a 10 page monologue that my character had to recite. It was quite a challenge to get that all down, but I did it. This was also my first time working under prosthetics. In this story, Doyle morphs into this demon-like creature with red eyes and spikes all over his face. It took a hell of a long time in the make-up chair but I ended up looking pretty cool."

Night Man

"We do a tremendous amount of location filming, too, especially at ngith, and sometimes it's so hard to unwind, man. There are times that I'll come home exhausted but I can't go to sleep right away because I'm still pumped up from the work. So it can be a demanding schedule but at the same time we have a lot of fun. David and I are constantly in fits of laughter and I think that helps loosen us up so that our characters don't come across as freakin' robots."

Angel is joined in Los Angeles by another Sunnydale escapee, Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), who has come to Tinseltown looking for fame and fortune as an aspiring actress. She quickly discovers that the road to stardom is paved with hurdles, detours and pitfalls, so she winds up working as a secretary at a detective agency to make ends meet. Not surprisingly, Angel comes aboard as well and through him Doyle meets Cordelia.

"The relationship between Doyle and Cordelia has finally started to develop," says Quinn. "He's pretty much infatuated with Cordelia right from the beginning but she doesn't want anything to do with him. However, while Angel's off battling whoever or whatever, Doyle has been hanging out with Cordelia and keeping an eye on her. We recently shot an episode in which some guy tries to hit on her and Doyle head-butts him and gets into this huge fight trying to protect her. So Cordelia is getting used to him and it's looking more and more likely that they'll end up in a romance, but we'll have to wait and see."

Screen Kiss

"It's been great working with both David and Charisma," adds the actor. "I'm fortunate to have two Buffy veterans to lean on and who can help show me the ropes. They're both solid people and I think we make a good team."

Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, Quinn made a habit of going to the theatre at a young wage to watch his uncles perform in musicals. It was after seeing Star Wars, however, that he decided to pursue an acting career. Quinn moved to the States at the age of 19 where casting director Johanna Ray (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart) helped him find representation, which led to his audition for Roseanne.

"That was my big break," notes the actor. "It was an amazing time performing in front of a live audience and working with such talented individuals as John Goodman and the rest of the cast. It was a phenomenal training ground and I learnt things that you cannot be taught in any acting class."

Quinn's feature film credits include Shout, a coming-of-age movie in whcih he co-stars with John Travolta and shares a screen kiss with Gwyneth Paltrow, Dr Giggles, Campfire Tales, Live Nude Girls and Men (aka Some Girls). He has also appeared in two made-for-television films, Silhouette and Call Me Anna, and earlier this year guest-starred on the comedy/drama series Jessie. Away from the cameras, he and fellow Irishman and close friend Mark Leddy co-own a hot new LA nightclub called Goldfingers. Unlike his demonic alter ego on Angel, Quinn shies away from the Hollywood nightlife and prefers to concentrate on his career.

"For now, my main focus is trying to do the best job I can," he says. "I couldn't care less about going to premières or anything like that. As an actor, the greatest reward is when someone like John Goodman takes the time to come up to me and say, 'You did a great job.' That means a lot to me and, I suppose, the money helps, too," chuckles Quinn.