Watch James Marsden Surprise ‘Jury Duty’ Star Ronald Gladden With Message From Ben Schwartz
After breakout star Ronald Gladden and actor James Marsden appeared on the hit Amazon Freevee series, Jury Duty, the two reunited for ET as they revisited their time together on the documentary-style reality series. And Marsden also came with a surprise for Gladden — one that called back to one of their very first interactions about the actor’s co-star, Ben Schwartz.
On the show, Gladden thought he was participating in a documentary about what it is like to be on an American jury, only to learn at the end of his experience the entire thing was fake. Everything from the case, to his fellow jurors and even Marsden, who played a heightened version of himself who found himself stuck in the jury pool.
Very early on in the show, Gladden and Marsden got to talking about his acting career as the two waited to be interviewed as part of the jury selection process. After learning Marsden was in Sonic the Hedgehog, Gladden revealed he was a big fan of Schwartz, who voiced Sonic in the 2020 film adaptation, much to the chagrin of the 49-year-old actor.
After Gladden revealed that he was a huge fan of Marsden’s performance in Sex Drive, the two eventually bonded during the filming process as they navigated the ups and downs of being on this particular jury.
And now, while speaking to ET, Gladden revealed that he wants to star in a heist movie with Marsden. “It’s going to be great. I’m currently pitching it right now,” he said with a laugh, before Marsden added, “I love a good heist movie.”
Later, when asked who else he’d really love to act with, Marsden nudged Gladden to share his real answer. “On camera, Ben Schwartz, obviously,” he said. “Oh, my God. Ben, come on dude, I’m still trying to reach out to you.”
At that moment, Marsden revealed he had a surprise for Gladden: a video message from Schwartz himself. “This is an exclusive,” Marsden teased as he cued up the video for his newfound friend.
“Ben Schwartz here… I heard that you were a fan. Thank you so much for watching Sonic and then realizing how much fun it is,” Schwartz can be heard saying in the clip. “Also, congratulations on the show… I hope James was wonderful to you. I hope the experience was wonderful.”
Later in the video, Schwartz extended Gladden an invite to one of his improv shows. “Any city you wanna come to, you tell us,” he offered, before adding that if he came to a Los Angeles show that he should bring Marsden along. “Text James and James says you can probably stay at his place.”
A clearly shocked Gladden reacted to the video by saying, “That literally just made my mouth drop. Oh, my God.”
“I’m thrilled. I’m going to everything, are you kidding? Of course, I’m gonna be there,” he continued, acknowledging what an honor it has been getting to spend time with Marsden and other people from the cast of Jury Duty. “They’re just phenomenal at what they do… It’s just so cool to me. Like, ‘You’re next to James.’ Like, that’s the best. That’s the best perk!”
Source: Entertainment Tonight