Like Father, Like . . .

“I’m a bit biased,” admits Valentina Quinn, assessing her father Anthony Quinn’s performance as the obstinate fisherman Santiago in the NBC-TV movie “The Old Man and the Sea” (airing Sunday at 9 p.m. on Channel 4). Beyond an acting showcase for Anthony Quinn, the film proved a family affair: Valentina plays Angela, the old man’s fiery daughter; her brother, Francesco Quinn, is the young Santiago.

In Hemingway’s original story--as well as the Spencer Tracy’s 1958 film version--there is no Angela character. “In our story, she comes to try to talk him (the old man) into leaving the fishing village and coming to live with her and her husband,” says the actress. “He’s very stubborn, says no, that he wants to catch ‘the big one’--and she goes off storming. That’s my one major scene. Then I have a brief one, hollering at him across the waves.”

Although nepotism did play a part in Quinn’s casting, she contends that she did the proving on her own: the elder Quinn, hearing that Valentina was appearing at a local play last summer, alerted the studio to come out and take a look at her. “It didn’t hurt to have him suggest me,” acknowledges the actress (aged “early-thirtysomething”). “But I was really flattered.”

Their work together was the first since Valentina did a small part on his early ‘70s TV series “The Man and the City.”

“I was filled with anxiety,” she says. “I guess it’d be anxiety-producing for anyone. But this time was different. I had experience (“Stir Crazy,” “Killing Stone”) under my belt. I was coming in as a professional, and I had to prove myself to him--my dad, not Anthony Quinn. But it was great; I think he developed a whole new respect for me as an actress. After a time, we fell right into the (characters’) relationship. Except the yelling. I never yell at him.”