Who Is Ronald Gladden From Jury Obligation?

Ronald Gladden thought he was simply doing his civic responsibility, with a couple of cameras following alongside. Like all the opposite individuals within the documentary-style comedy collection “Jury Obligation,” which premiered on Amazon Freevee on April 7, Gladden performs himself within the present — however not like the others, who’re all actors, Gladden truly thought he was collaborating in a documentary about an actual trial.

“Jury Obligation,” although, is most positively not about an actual trial. Co-created by “The Workplace”‘s Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, the present stars James Marsden, a bunch of actors, and the unsuspecting Gladden as jurors in a three-week Los Angeles trial. Out of the twelve jurors, Gladden is the one one who is not conscious that he is in a fastidiously plotted comedy collection.

30-year-old Gladden is a photo voltaic contractor hailing from San Diego, CA, per Collider. In response to his Instagram, he appears to take pleasure in spending time along with his corgi, Meatball. He is additionally in a relationship, and his girlfriend apparently was in on the joke and helped persuade Gladden to surrender his cellphone throughout filming.

“We didn’t suppose somebody in the present day can be so cool about giving up their cellular phone. And actually, Ronald’s girlfriend apparently helped us out with that,” mentioned director Jake Szymanski in an April 8 interview with Primetimer. “As a result of the night time earlier than, he had been speaking to his girlfriend at dwelling, and he mentioned, ‘You realize, it is getting actually severe. They’re speaking about sequestering us.’ And he or she advised him, ‘Oh, meaning they will take away your cellular phone, in the event that they’re sequestering you.'”

So how did Gladden land a starring position in a collection he did not know existed? All of it started when he answered a Craigslist advert asking for individuals to participate in a documentary in regards to the judicial course of. Gladden was one in every of about 4,000 candidates who despatched a video, mentioned government producer Nicholas Hatton in an April 6 interview with NationalWorld. Gladden was ultimately chosen for his likability. “We actually wished them to have a reference to Ronald, we did not ever need him to really feel like he was the butt of the joke, or that we had been punching down,” he mentioned within the interview.

Gladden himself appears to be taking all his newfound fame in stride. “It nonetheless actually hasn’t hit me,” he advised the San Diego Tribune on April 4. “I have been protecting this quiet for a yr or so.”

The primary 4 episodes of “Jury Obligation” are now streaming on Amazon Freebee, and the ultimate 4 premiere on April 21. Watch the trailer above.