James Marsden and Jury Duty's Ronald Are Real Life Friends After Filming: 'He's a Purehearted Human' (original) (raw)

Freevee's Jury Duty may have been fake, but it resulted in some real-life friendships.

The new improv show brought actor James Marsden and unsuspecting comedy subject Ronald Gladden together on-screen — and they've stayed friends since Gladden learned the entire series was a hoax.

Marsden, 49, tells PEOPLE he's still in close contact with Gladden after filming — and after Gladden learned that everyone but him was a paid actor on the series.

"It was really important to me, I was like, 'I can't end this and then go, 'Hey bud, that was fun, see ya,'" Marsden says. "If we're really celebrating the guy, then we got to stay pals. And he's such a purehearted human being — I'd want to be friends with him anyway."

Ronald Gladden/Instagram

The Hairspray actor says he played an "entitled Hollywood" version of himself on Jury Duty, which follows Gladden and a group of fake jurors inside an American jury trial.

But Gladden tells PEOPLE he was happy to learn it wasn't the real Marsden.

"I was loving James one minute and then I was hating him the next, but then he'd bring himself back," he recalls. "So during that whole process it was just a rollercoaster, the best way I can describe it."

"But once I found out it was fake, I was just so relieved ... to know that he was not that guy," he adds.

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

It's not just Marsden who Gladden remains close to, either.

"I'd stay in contact with everyone. And it's not just the cast members that you saw," he says. "I'm talking about the camera operators, I'm talking about the EPs, the showrunners, the sound technicians, literally everyone. They're all amazing."

Jury Duty's showrunner, Cody Heller, also spoke to the close connection everyone has kept with Gladden since the show wrapped.

Calling him the "kindest man in the world," Heller tells PEOPLE, "I love it because truly the family that was created, not just the cast, but also the crew, so many real life best friendships were formed and everyone is so goddamn talented that it blew my mind every day."

"I would sit there astonished by the pure brilliance, the comedic brilliance, and the ability to play it so real. That's like a tall order," Heller adds. "And they all just impressed me so much."

As for what comes next in their friendship, Marsden says he'd be down for anything — even a sequel that follows the two on an adventure.

"We can do a little road trip," the Enchanted alum says. "That'd be fun."

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Jury Duty is now streaming on Amazon's free streaming site, Freevee.