When James Marsden wasn’t spotted by “Jury Duty” breakout star, Ronald Gladden, the production team had to implement their scripted plan B and hope the unknowing participant improvised, correctly, the second time around.
“We had the backup plan which we wound up using, which was to have this actress Sasha who comes up and says ‘I’m so sorry to bother you, but I’m such a big fan. Can you take a picture?’” said “Jury Duty” showrunner, Cody Heller at the Prime Video FYC panel on April 26.
“Jury Duty” follows the inner workings of a jury serving on a civil trial. But one juror, San Diego solar contractor Ronald Gladden, is unaware that the jury he is serving on is completely fabricated — the actors, the case, the courtroom. Everything that Gladden encounters in the three weeks is entirely fake and meticulously planned.
But with some relatively unknown comedic actors who starred as 12 members of the jury, one actor had to portray himself, all with the intention that Gladden would be a fan. That’s when the “Jury Duty” producers called on “semi-recognizable” James Marsden to join. But as the three weeks would unfold and Gladden would befriend the character of Marsden, it became increasingly clear how Gladden and the actor’s initial meeting would become a crucial plot point of the season, and their future friendship.
“I am not proud to admit how long it took me to fully recognize James,” Gladden told moderator Ike Barinholtz, whose father Alan Barinholtz played the court room’s judge. Gladden, defending how the situation was disorienting, explained, “The best way I can describe this is to imagine you’re going to get your oil changed and you’re waiting in the waiting room. You’re not expecting somebody you know to be sitting next to you, let alone a famous person. So when I [went] into this experience I [was] not prepared to see anybody I knew — let alone anyone on TV.”
Despite the production’s precautions in place to keep their unaware star in the dark, Gladden revealed he was on high alert. “Day two they got me on camera saying to James ‘Wow, this has been an interesting day.’ Because from the get-go I knew in my gut something was not right. [They] got me on camera multiple times saying ‘I’m on reality TV, this can’t be real. What is going on?’”
Barinholtz asked if Gladden ever registered what was secretly transpiring, Gladden described why he couldn’t entertain the thought that his reality was fake. “[If I asked] ‘Is this fake?’ I would have to question my entire reality. So it made much more sense that I was surrounded by weird people than that my whole world was fake,” he said. “What makes the most sense to you, that your whole world is fake? Or this guy’s weird?
But what convinced him to join the jury off of his own volition?
“I stumbled across this Craigslist ad that said, ‘We’ll pay you for your time if you participate in this jury.’ One of the requirements was you could have never served on a jury before,” explained Gladden. “So I approached this with the idea that I was going into this experience and will get something I’d never had before.”
“I was fully prepared for anything, and obviously, they more than delivered.”
During the Q&A, Marsden revealed what enticed him to join the project. As a comedic star, Marsden was ready to improvise for the irreverent sitcom, but once the producers explained it would be “‘The Office’ meets ‘The Truman Show,” that’s when Marsden said, “Where do I sign?”
“I got excited about lampooning the Hollywood-entitled actor,” said Marsden.
Marsden also knew that the premise could walk a fine line between making jokes at Ronald, rather than making jokes with Ronald. Recalling his initial conversations with the production team, Marsden revealed how he outlined a few boundaries, “We got to protect this guy. He’s never going to be the butt of the joke. He’s never going to be humiliated.”
While Marsden knew the show’s intention, sometimes the premise and execution left him unsure, noting how “it was fun for a while,” but after six hours a day for three weeks he began to raise the questions, “‘Is this even working? What is going on?’”
In the end, Marsden, the cast of improvisational comedians and the crew, managed to pull it all off, shocking themselves, and most importantly, the star of the show. As for that reveal, Gladden took it in stride. The unaware lead walked with the crew around the production set, alongside his newfound friends — whom he was meeting for the first time, again.
“The only thing I could do was accept my reality at face value. They were asking so much of me to process on one day, that my entire world for a month was fake. You can’t ask that, it’s too much. I got ‘Truman Showed’ in real life — ” said Gladden.
“I am so sorry about that Ronald,” interjected Heller.
Gladden jokingly quipped back, “They did not apologize enough, so thank you. But you can’t ask that of somebody, it’s too big of an ask. I couldn’t process everything. All I could do was accept it at face value and say ‘Well there’s nothing I can do to change this. So I’m just going to go with the flow.’”
The entire first season of “Jury Duty” is available on Freeve and Prime Video.
Watch the video above for the full conversation.
