Posted by RabbitEars
Michael Imperioli, famed as Christopher on The Sopranos, is back on series TV (on the other side of the law) in Life on Mars, an ABC remake of the hit BBC series premiering Oct. 9. The series follows Sam Tyler (Jason O’Mara), a New York City detective suddenly thrust back into the year 1973 (details on exactly how are not being offered. There is almost a Lost quality about possible meanings — is Sam in heaven? Did he travel through time?)
Imperioli plays 1973 detective Ray Carling, a big, tough guy in the classic New York cop tradition. And that’s the attitude producers were looking for when they hired Imperioli, to get the flavor of a New York cop.
“Most of the stuff I’ve been doing seems to be either a cop or a robber,” laughed Imperioli at the show’s presentation this morning at TCA. “But if that pays the bills that’s okay.”
Imperioli may have the natural look of a NY cop, but he did have to do some research on personality and procedure. “I spoke with a guy who was a detective then. They tended to be guys who were from New York, had a relationship to the streets. They had an instinct for what was going on, who was who, where to find informants. It was in their DNA.”
