Deadline is reporting that the upcoming Steven Spielberg / Peter Chernin TV project, Terra Nova, may have a lead on its protagonist: Jason O’Mara. O’Mara, most recently of the canceled Life On Mars, is reportedly in talks to topline the upcoming show, which is set in the year 2149 when all life on the planet Earth is being
threatened with extinction. Scientists have opened a door allowing
people to travel back to prehistoric times. The Shannon family (father
Jim, his wife Elisabeth, and their children Josh and Maddy) join the
tenth pilgrimage of settlers to Terra Nova, the first human colony on the other side of the temporal doorway (via wikipedia).
O’Mara is a TV vet, with credits including Men In Trees, In Justice, The Agency, High Stakes, Monarch of the Glen and several guest starring spots on other notable shows both here and in the UK. I liked him on the Life On Mars episodes I caught, so I think this should be a good opportunity for him. Production on the show begins at the end of the summer in Australia for a 2011 Fox mid-season run.