Jason O'Mara

After years of supporting roles in his native Ireland and the U.K., actor Jason O'Mara became the centerpiece for some of the more higher-profile television projects of the 2000s and 2010s, though his first efforts were often short-lived despite unique premises, quality production values and massive buzz. O'Mara first came to attention with American audiences with a small role in Steven Spielberg's award-winning miniseries, "Band of Brothers" (HBO, 2001) before joining the cast for the second season of the CIA thriller series "The Agency" (CBS, 2002-03). From there he co-starred on another short-lived series, "In Justice" (ABC, 2006), before landing the main villain role in "Resident Evil: Extinction" (2007). O'Mara was propelled to leading man status with the main role on the American remake of the British sci-fi procedural, "Life on Mars" (ABC, 2008-09), only to see the show canceled during its maiden season due to low ratings. He went on to a number of guest starring appearances before being cast in the lead for another much-hyped series, "Terra Nova" (Fox, 2011), a time traveling sci-fi adventure from Spielberg that once again failed to attract large audiences. Despite the setbacks in the early stages of his stateside career, O'Mara was a gifted enough performer to earn himself another shot at stardom.