How 'Jury Duty' completely faked a trial in real courtroom with a narcissistic James Marsden
LOS ANGELES – Amazon Freevee's "Jury Duty" takes a documentary-style court case deep dive through the eyes of juror Ronald Gladden, with one important twist.
Gladden doesn't know that the gonzo legal proceedings in the eight-part series are entirely fake, right down to "Westworld" star James Marsden pretending to be an alternate juror and a hilariously self-absorbed version of himself.
In "Jury Duty," (first four episodes now streaming, then weekly on Fridays) everyone except Ronald is an improv actor – Marsden, the other 11 jury members, the judge, the bailiff, and the 12 fake witnesses giving phony testimony.
"It's all a farce," says Marsden of the series, filmed in a real courtroom meant to dupe Gladden, who believes he's a juror in the weirdest court case.
Setting up the 17-day ruse was hilarious and legal, says executive producer Cody Heller, who admits to having some concerns during filming.
"Our biggest joke was that the next season of 'Jury Duty' was going to be us on trial for trying to make this show," says Heller. "It was truly the most insane endeavor of my life."
Here's how the disorder in the court went:
'Jury Duty' shows a fake case in a real courtroom
Heller discovered early in the process that it would have been illegal to fake a criminal trial. So "Jury Duty" revolves around a sham civil case over a workplace dispute, with a bogus plaintiff and defendant.
Gladden, 30, a Home Depot project manager from San Diego, was one of 4,000 applicants responding to a Craigslist ad looking for Southern California participants to serve on a jury and take part in a courtroom documentary (which explains the camera crew) for pay.
The proceedings were held in the vacant Huntington Park Superior Court, 16 miles southeast of Los Angeles, which was last used as a community Halloween haunted house.
"There was no electricity. There were just spider webs and fake zombies," says Heller. "Our crew went in there to rehab the entire thing. Within weeks it was a functioning courthouse again."
James Marsden played James Marsden the Hollywood narcissist star
Marsden played an exaggerated version of himself, a name-dropping Hollywood star forced to serve on jury duty, but always aiming to get kicked off the case. He even sets up paparazzi to invade the court.
"I had to do this dance that I'm so narcissistic," says Marsden. "It's like 'I've got to get out of this, I have a big movie coming and my fame will be a distraction.'"
But Gladden only vaguely recognized Marsden, and was only slightly familiar with his work.
Throughout every interaction with Gladden over 17 days, Marsden and other participants couldn't blow the secret. "It was a full high-wire act," says Marsden. "If somebody screwed up, said the wrong person's name or was in the wrong place. That was it. That's where the excitement came from."
Keeping the gag unrevealed was difficult in moments, such as when the defense attorney presented an amateur video recreation of a work incident at the center of the civil case.
"The defense played this awful one-dimensional video for the jury, but that was our first time seeing it," says Marsden. "We all started laughing. But it worked because you would've laughed at that video in real life."
'Hero' juror was surrounded by 'misguided weirdos'
Gladden fell for the bizarre proceedings, but producers ensured "he was never the butt of the joke," says Marsden. Instead, "We put (Gladden) on a hero's journey and surrounded him with these completely wonky, misguided weirdos."
No matter what the situation – from courtroom outbursts to Marsden childishly destroying a cake at a group picnic – Gladden came off better than anyone expected. He befriended one bizarre juror, Todd, who was chastised by the judge for attempting to wear his self-invented "chairpants" (a chair built into pants) to court.
"Todd was meant to creep Ronald out," says Marsden. "Instead Ronald took Todd under his wing and taught him about embracing yourself. Ronald was a gem of a person."
After the charade was revealed by the presiding judge (Alan Barinholtz, the father of actors Ike and Rob, who had once been a prosecuting attorney) Gladden was shocked, but laughed about the elaborate set-up.
"Ronald turned out to be a prince who is still friends with the people he met making this show," Marsden says.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Jury Duty' comedy fakes civil trial with narcissistic James Marsden
