Television Quinn made his screen acting debut in
Quo Vadis?, a 1985
RAI miniseries based on the
novel of the same name. From 1999 to 2001, Francesco appeared on the CBS soap opera
The Young and the Restless as
Nina Webster's boyfriend, Tomas del Cerro, and was nominated for an
ALMA Award (an award reserved for Latino/a performers) as Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Soap Opera for his work as Tomas Del Cerro, an aloof writer from New York. Quinn also appeared extensively in television guest-star roles in crime and thriller dramas. He was lead guest star in an episode of
JAG (1995). On CBS's
The Fugitive, Quinn played Victor Gutierrez, a DEA agent with an edge, and played the recurring role of
Islamic terrorist Syed Ali on Fox's series
24. Other TV guest starring roles occurred in
Criminal Minds,
ER,
CSI: Miami,
The Glades,
Navy NCIS,
Alias,
Crossing Jordan,
In the Heat of the Night,
Miami Vice,
Red Shoe Diaries,
The Handler,
Soldier of Fortune,
Good vs. Evil,
Vengeance Unlimited, and
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. Quinn also portrayed the final criminal/villain, Guillermo Beltran, in the long-running F/X series,
The Shield. In 2008, Quinn joined
Luke Perry and
C. Thomas Howell in the
western TV film ''
A Gunfighter's Pledge''. Quinn was one of the earlier working actors to branch out into contributing to video games with his role as a main character in
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (1999). In 2010–2011, he took part in the second season of the Italian TV series
Il commissario Manara.
Film Quinn made his film debut in
Oliver Stone's
Academy Award-winning Vietnam War film
Platoon (1986), playing Private "Rhah" Ramucci. During the late 1980s, he appeared in a string of Italian films, including the historical biopic
Stradivari (also starring his father), the
Rambo-esque action film
Indio, and the war movie
Casablanca Express. He appeared in many feature films including the New York Independent Film Festival winner
Placebo Effect. He acted with his father in several films, including
A Star For Two with
Lauren Bacall. The two Quinns also had the opportunity to share the role of Santiago in the 1990 mini-series
The Old Man and the Sea, son and father playing the character as a young and old man. Quinn sometimes played moody, dangerous characters, such as vampire Vlad Tepes in the 2003
direct to video alt-historical thriller
Vlad, and wandering warrior Thane Le Mal in the short film
The Gnostic. Like his father, Quinn also appeared in historical dramas, playing such roles as Latino Captain Salamanca in
Steven Spielberg’s mini-series
Into the West (2005) and a lead role in TNT's
Rough Riders (1997) (TV). One of Quinn's earliest roles was as Marcus Vinicius in the 1985 mini-series
Quo Vadis?, co-starring with some major film actors of the 1980s. Later examples of Quinn's work included
Park, which won the audience award at 2007
CineVegas, and the short film
Muertas, starring
America Ferrera. In 2007, he appeared as Ruben Vega in the
Academy Award-nominated short film
The Tonto Woman, adapted from the
Elmore Leonard short story. In 2011, he would voice
Dino / Mirage in
Transformers: Dark of the Moon which would be his final role before his death shortly after the film's release. ==Personal life==