INDIANAPOLIS — Have you ever been summoned for jury duty? Ronald Gladden thought he had.
In Amazon Freevee's documentary-style comedy series, a solar contractor from San Diego answers an ad on Craigslist to take part in a documentary about the inner workings of a civil jury trial in the U.S.
The catch? Gladden is unaware the entire case is fake — as well as his 11 co-jurors, the judge, the bailiff and everyone involved.
Improv actor Ross Kimball ("Masterminds," "Queenpins") plays a juror who is a high school teacher and coach, and is madly in love with his wife.
"It was surreal to be a part of it," Kimball said. "I auditioned for something, and it fell through, didn't get it, and (director Jake Szymanski) said, 'Wait six months because I have something coming up.' That's the nice Hollywood thing to say, and you never expect it. Exactly six months later, he goes, 'Hey, would you mind putting yourself on tape for something?' It was an untitled jury duty project."
According to Kimball, the cast rehearsed the whole season for a week before meeting Gladden.
"When people ask me, 'How's Ronald?' I say, 'Well, I talked to him the other day,'" Kimball said. "I always say I'm so glad the world got to meet Ronald Gladden. Whenever someone compliments me about the show or someone emails me about how great it is, they always say, 'I can't believe you found him' and also 'It really restored my faith in humanity.' This show really came into people's lives at the right time."
And actor James Marsden — known for his roles in "Enchanted," "The Notebook," "Hairspray" and "X-Men" — hilariously stars as a fictionalized version of himself.
"(Marsden) was amazing, super professional, very funny, super personable. He knocked it out of the park," Kimball said. "There was a moment where Ronald and James are meeting for the first time in the waiting room, and he looks at someone's socks and the socks say Patagonia, but he says, 'Oh, I thought that said Sonic. Yeah, I'm in 'Sonic.'' And Ronald goes, 'Oh, you're in 'Sonic?' I heard that's not a good movie.' And I thought to myself, this is our guy — we found the guy — because he is so nice and says whatever's on his mind."
All eight episodes of "Jury Duty" are now streaming on Amazon Freevee.