LOS ANGELES (AP) — Even charming, chiselled-faced actors can have it tough.As a star of "Eureka", the Sci Fi Channel's most popular series, Colin Ferguson has to spend long hours nearly half of the year on the show's set in Vancouver, British Columbia — away from his home base in Los Angeles.

"Actually broke up with my girlfriend a couple of months ago," laments Ferguson, calling from his cell after a 13-hour stint on the set. "We love each other to bits ... but it's really difficult because of the work."

In fact, on this recent evening, he had been on call for 26 days straight — even working through weekends.

"We're trying to make it work, but ... five to six months out of the year, I'm simply MIA. It's tough."

Ferguson's own forlorn love life is reminiscent of the one he has on-screen as Sheriff Jack Carter, whose life — and blissful marriage to Allison Blake (Salli Richardson) — is upturned by a recent seismic shift in the time continuum.

Now reset four years back, the second season of "Eureka" (premiering on July 10 at 10 p.m. Bermuda time) finds Carter struggling with memories of a time past — and a future lost — that only one other person in the secret Northwestern hamlet of geniuses can remember. And Ferguson, 34, definitely feels Carter's pain.

"When you get the episodes in, you start calling the writers and you're like, 'Oh, so are you guys writing my life into the show? Or is this sort of me becoming my character?'"

Maybe it's only art imitating life, but there's no doubt Ferguson is Carter, says executive producer/creator Jaime Paglia.

"I saw Colin on day two of casting and said, `We've found our guy,"' Paglia says. "When he came in to read, one of the most important things was that we have a leading guy who is going to feel like an everyman ... he's got that Steve McQueen quality with humour."

Says Richardson: "His quick wit plays off my ... sarcastic way of coming back at him, and it just seems to work together. I think we pick up on each other's rhythm and we fall right into step."

A Second City improv comic, Ferguson worked in bars to put himself through school at McGill University in his hometown of Montreal.

After a series of false starts at stardom in independent films that "didn't go anywhere" — and guest spots on shows such as "Becker", "Titus" and "Crossing Jordan" — Ferguson landed a starring role on NBC's much-hyped ensemble comedy, "Coupling". But what was supposed to be the second coming of "Friends" was cancelled after only a few episodes.

Despite the show's untimely demise, he says: "It was such a good experience for me. At the end, I was looked at in a different way. I was 'that guy from "Coupling"' which was great. At least I was that guy from somewhere."

Now the guy from "Eureka", is participating on key decisions about the show.

"The producers definitely keep an open ear," says Ferguson. "They've been fantastic about letting us, if we need to, adjust something ... They know you're not going to mess with the integrity of what they wrote."

Says Paglia, "Colin is one of the hardest-working guys you'll ever meet — completely dedicated to the show, to the character, and making every scene as good as it possibly can be."

"He's really a perfectionist. If it was stuff that really didn't make the show better, I'd really want to kill him," Richardson says, laughing. "But I can never get mad at him for wanting to make the best show we can make. He really puts forth 300 percent ... and I appreciate it."