Face-to-Face with Jason O'Mara of "Life on Mars"...

Jason O'Mara wanted to make one thing clear: he's not changing his haircut for his new ABC series "Life On Mars."

Even though his character of NYPD Det. Sam Tyler finds himself sent back to 1973 when he's hit by a car while chasing down a criminal, Jason didn't go for a retro look. After all, Sam had been living in 2008 until his little accident.

"I don't think it's really necessary to do anything to my hair," the actor told me recently.

I guess a bad 70s hairdo ("Mod Squad" anyone?) wouldn't be so good for ratings. One thing the Irish-born actor is trying to do though is work on an accent for the series, based on the British hit of the same name.

"I'm gonna try and give it sort of a New York flavor. That's very difficult to do, to do a subtle New York accent," he said. "It's easier to do Italian or something very specific."
On the show, Sam is trying to understand what has just happened to him and figure out how he can get back to the present day.

Meanwhile, he doesn't know who to trust and is, of course, without any hi-tech crime fighting techniques.So what would Jason miss the most is he really was transported back to the 70s

"Well, I would certainly miss the Internet, iPods, my DVR, microwave oven and cell phones of course," he said.
The Irish-born actor is no stranger to television audiences after roles as a regular or guest star on a number of series including "The Closer," "Grey's Anatomy," "CSI: Miami" and "Criminal Minds." He was part of the cast of "The Agency" on CBS and co-lead of "In Justice" on ABC and did several pilots that didn't make it on the air.

"I've been working with ABC for the last four years and this is kind of the culmination of a lot of that work."

The series doesn't premiere until early October but in recent weeks, the promos featuring Jason have hit the airwaves.

"This is a new deal for me, I've never had a fall launch like this," he said. "We're the only ABC fall drama so there's a lot of pressure so, it's very exciting."

Jason has lived in the U.S. for the last six years where he has consistently worked. He has a home in a small town in Connecticut with actress wife Paige Turco and their young son David. Paige, who Jason met when both were regulars on the CBS drama "The Agency," is currently one of the stars of the FX drama "Damages."
The couple's main priority right now is "trying to stay in the same city" as they juggle busy acting careers.