Ronald Gladden Celebrates ‘Jury Duty’s Surprise Emmy Nominations In Sweet Instagram Post: All “Because I Answered A Craigslist Ad”

Ronald Gladden was a project manager when he responded to a Craigslist ad to be part of a documentary about jury duty. But the decision would go on to change his life as he became a breakout star of one of the best TV shows to come out in 2023.

Now, Gladden is celebrating Jury Duty getting nominated for four Emmy Awards.

“This is probably the craziest sentence I’ve ever said,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “I’m part of a tv show that’s nominated for an Emmy because I answered a Craigslist ad.”

The actor shared the news along with a photo of the Outstanding Comedy Series category, in which Jury Duty is competing against Ted Lasso, Abbott Elementary, and many other hit series.

Jury Duty also received nominations for Outstanding Casting and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. James Marsden, who played a dramatized version of himself, also scored his first-ever Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

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A post shared by Ronald Gladden (@sunnyg_sd)

“Maybe you’re still being pranked,” Gladden’s Jury Duty co-star Kirk Fox, who some may recognize from Parks & Recreation, commented.

“Too soon Kirk Fox hahahahaha Too soon!!!” Gladden replied.

The Freevee series is a mockumentary following a jury of eclectic characters that gets sequestered for a month. But, unbeknownst to Gladden, everyone involved in the case – from his co-jurors to the judge – is a paid actor.

In an interview after the Emmy nominees were announced, Marsden said he was “over the moon” about receiving the first Emmy Award nomination of his career.

“My first very first phone call was to Ronald. I just wanted to share it all with him and let him know how huge a part he was,” he told Variety.

“We had the best people, the best writers, the best showrunners and got really lucky with Ronald,” Marsden continued. “Best case scenario. The irony is I’m nominated for playing myself. What a strange, strange feeling.”

There is still no telling if there will be a Jury Duty Season 2, but producers David Bernad and Todd Schulman have said that they could “take that same theme and premise and apply it to other areas outside of a jury trial.”

“One of the reasons maybe the show has resonated with people is it’s all too rare to see being a good person celebrated, I think that’s an infinitely repeatable core concept, that core element of the show we can do again potentially in other worlds,” Schulman told Variety. “I do think there are opportunities, but we haven’t gotten too deep into that yet.”

Maybe there’s still hope for a Season 2 – as long as they can find another hero.

Jury Duty Season 1 can be streamed on Freevee.