If it weren’t for a fateful turn
in his high school’s production
of The Merchant of Venice,
Jason O’Mara may well have
become a rugby-bruised sailor.
“I was always on the field or
water as a teenager, and I still
have a cauliflower ear and a
lump on my forehead,” says
the Dublin-born actor, who
also sailed and kayaked in the
waters around Dalkey Island
with the Sea Scouts, Ireland’s
waterborne version of the Boy
Scouts. “I got the piss ripped
out of me in school for being
a Scout, but it was cool.”
At the very least, it taught him
perseverance. After years spent
onstage in Ireland and three
failed television pilots stateside,
the New York and Connecticut–
based family man finally scored
his breakout role in ABC’s Life on
Mars, a remake of a British drama
that has won several awards from
the British Academy of Film and
Television Arts (BAFTA) as well
as the International Emmys.
“I feel like I’ve been up-and-coming for about 15 years,”
jokes O’Mara, who plays the
lead, Sam Tyler, a tough NYPD
detective who wakes up in
1973 after being hit by a car.
Opposite the 125th Precinct’s
white-shoed “Lieut” (Harvey
Keitel), mustachioed detective
(Michael Imperioli), and sexy
member of the Policewomen’s
Bureau (Gretchen Mol), he
finds a world not too distant
from our own. To wit: The
country was trying to get out of
an unpopular war and get rid
of an unpopular president while
facing an economic meltdown.
“It’s unpredictable and
exciting, and you don’t know
how any scene or episode is going
to end. Just when you think you
might have it figured out, more
questions come along,” says
O’Mara. “It makes us stop and
think. I really like the show when
it works on that human level.”
Despite the abundance of
polyester Huk-A-Poo shirts and
bell-bottoms, the show doesn’t
work so well for O’Mara on a
fashion level. So he traveled back
another 10 years to explore the
early-’60s styles that inspired
this season’s tailored raincoats.
Whether it’s a double-breasted
Brioni or a classic Burberry
mac, each provides a clean
accompaniment to any dark
suit and tie. “I think I have a
mac, but I don’t wear it much,”
adds O’Mara. “Now I’d be more
inclined to. It cuts a very nice
line.” MICHAEL SLENSKE
