Quinn was born Oct. 8, 1993, in Texarkana, TX, and spent her early years developing a predilection for performance, initially to entertain her family. At age three, she began studying at Texarkana’s Judith McCarty School of Dancing. Only a year later, she appeared in her first local TV spot. The following year, she danced in a community production of “The Nutcracker.” The director, retired film director Martin Beck, encouraged her to audition for parts and would become her acting instructor for the next five years. During that time, Quinn became a voracious student of all things thespian. She continued to land work on local TV and in print ads. The summer before seventh grade, the 12-year-old journeyed to Dallas to attend a film camp, where she captured the attention of Linda Seto, director of the local youth arts institution, the Young Actors Studio. Seto set up an audition with Hollywood talent agent Cindy Osbrink mere days later, and Osbrink and Seto convinced her that with some additional training, Quinn’s look and talents would put her in high demand.
Quinn studied for six months at the Young Actors Studio, and then signed up with the Osbrink Talent Agency before she and her family made the jump to Los Angeles. Quinn won a minor role in the 2007 comedy “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” then the central part in the short film “The Sacrifice” (2008), playing a frightened 13-year-old girl chosen by a predatory polygamist cult-leader to be his wife. She also had a supporting role in the Renee Zellweger period comedy, “My One and Only” (2008).
Quinn made the jump to television by winning the part of Alexis, the daughter of the title character in the ABC mid-season replacement series, “Castle.” Nathan Fillion appeared as loveable rogue and mystery writer, Richard Castle, trying his hand at solving cases and trading snark with a tough, beautiful female NYPD cop (Stana Katic). Playing Alexis as the underage adult to her mercurial TV father, Quinn drew positive notices and the show – though a slow starter – built up enough of a following for ABC to renew it for a second season.