James Marsden Believes There's Only One Way Jury Duty Season 2 Can Happen
Could there be a second season of Amazon's unexpected hit comedy "Jury Duty"? Perhaps — and here's how star James Marsden thinks that could work. Marsden laid out the conditions for a possible second season of the show at the Emmys, where he was nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy for his work on the series. "Not with me, I would imagine, and not with the cast," Marsden mused (per Variety). "Maybe not with jury duty as a backdrop."
So what does this mean for a potential Season 2, considering that Marsden just essentially deleted all of the things that made the first iteration of "Jury Duty" so incredible? That's yet to be determined, but Marsden pointed out that the show was so successful that it's destined for another go-round. "You can't have a show like this hit the zeitgeist like it did and [not do a second season.]," he continued.
It's hard to imagine what other framework could possibly work for another season of something like "Jury Duty," which is undoubtedly one of the most unique concepts in recent memory. Why is that? "Jury Duty" was an enormous leap of faith — and it feels somewhat unlikely that lightning could possibly strike twice.
What is Jury Duty, and why did it become such a sensation?
"Jury Duty" was, to put it lightly, a huge risk. Co-creators Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg — both veterans of "The Office" — assembled a team of lesser-known actors and comedians that included Edy Modica, Mekki Leeper, David Brown, Kirk Fox, and even actor Ike Barinholtz's father Alan to pose as random jurors and, in Barinholtz's case, a judge overseeing a trial (James Marsden plays himself, albeit a seriously heightened version).
The crew of "Jury Duty" had to find a courtroom where they'd shoot, and from there, find a "mark" who would serve as the only person unaware that this entire thing was not only staged, but a comedic exercise. That person ended up being Ronald Gladden, a contractor who answered a Craigslist ad for a "volunteer juror."
Throughout the completely staged trial, everyone around Gladden, including Marsden, acted as strange as humanly possible. The trial itself, which centered on a totally absurd workplace issue, kept getting more and more ridiculous. At every single turn, Gladden reacted to his surroundings by simply being a kind and decent person, showing genuine empathy and generosity towards his fellow jurors. Finally, at the end of the experiment, Gladden was told that the entire thing was a sham ... and awarded $100,000 for his troubles.
James Marsden was hesitant about Jury Duty at first
It's interesting to note that James Marsden was extremely nervous about joining "Jury Duty" in the first place. As he told NPR's Fresh Air in the spring of 2023, he spoke extensively to Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg about participating, saying that he didn't want any part of a prank show.
"I had many reservations, and the biggest one was the wild card of this one human being who's being dropped into this situation that is all fake and manufactured," Marsden said. "Is this even something that is ethically right to do, to play with someone's human experience over the course of three weeks of their life?" Ultimately, the creators were able to sell him on the concept — specifically, that their intention wasn't to humiliate Ronald Gladden, but to send him on a literary "hero's journey" without him knowing.
There's no question that Marsden and the entire team behind "Jury Duty" found the perfect person for the job when they discovered Gladden — with whom Marsden is still friends. "We got really, really lucky, mostly with him, because he just is one of the kindest, empathetic, wonderful human beings that I've ever met," Marsden revealed. "And he kind of took it all in stride and laughed it off." As for whether a Season 2 could land the same type of person — the jury's still out on that.