Jury Duty star James Marsden panicked about poop-scented spray giving away the show's secret
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Talk about a s---ty situation.
One of Jury Duty's most memorable episodes is the fifth, where star James Marsden goes to the hotel room of his fellow juror, Ronald Gladden, who helps him self-tape an audition. When another one of their fellow jurors, Noah (Mekki Leeper), needs a little help connecting with Jeannie (Edy Modica), Ronald walks him to her room for moral support. While he's gone, James uses Ronald's bathroom — but in reality (pun intended), he's planting fake poop in the toilet. And a lot of it. The toilet now won't flush, the room stinks, James is embarrassed, and they need a plumber.
Everett Collection Ronald Gladden and James Marsden on 'Jury Duty'
It's all part of the grand ruse of the series, which got a best comedy series Emmy nomination this year (Leeper was also nominated for writing this particular episode, and Marsden scored his first-ever acting nod in the supporting category). Everything about the show is made up except Ronald, the only person who thinks they're all real jurors, serving a real trial.
But on this day, James — playing a version of himself — thinks he's ruined the entire thing by dousing the bathroom with too much poop-scented spray, as showrunner Cody Heller explains on the latest episode of EW's The Awardist podcast.
"Marsden was spraying more and more. He's like, 'I don't think it smells enough.' He's spraying more and more. And then right before Ronald came back in, he was like, 'It doesn't smell enough.' So he sprayed a little bit more right on the doorframe," Heller recalls of the moment. "Later that night, we had the room professionally cleaned — we didn't want Ronald to be in this gross room — but that night I get a text from Marsden in the middle of the night and he's like, 'Oh my God, I'm really worried. I think I sprayed some of the liquid poo right on the doorframe. And what if they didn't clean it, and Ronald realizes it, and he smells that it's on the doorframe?'"
Fortunately, he didn't. He also didn't realize that the trip to Margaritaville was staged — from the white supremacists to Noah getting drunk — or that witness testimony was scripted, or that Barbara (Susan Berger) wasn't really falling asleep while in the juror box. Not because Ronald's that gullible but because Heller, the other executive producers including Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, and the writing team had thought through any number of ways Ronald could react in nearly every situation, while also maintaining the option for improvisation and spontaneity.
Amazon Freevee Mekki Leeper in 'Jury Duty'
"When we were assembling the writers' room, one of the main things that I thought was gonna be very crucial was... anticipating what it might entail," she says, noting that she thought it was important that as many people be there from the beginning as possible, meaning some of the cast should also be writers. "All but two of the writers wound up being performers on the show, and I think that was a huge part of why we were able to be successful, is because we really created this family unit — it was just a true collaboration."
They had no playbook for how to make it work. After all, the show is a unique experiment and there's nothing else out there like Jury Duty — "We were all taking this risk, trusting in each other," she admits. So while the team didn't know exactly what they would end up with, they knew what they wanted the show to be — and what they did not want it to be.
"We don't want it to be cruel. We don't want it to be a prank show," Heller says of their mission. "We want it to be a hero's journey."
Amazon Freevee The cast of 'Jury Duty'
And a hero they got. Critics and audiences alike latched onto Ronald's journey, watching as he became a gentle, steady, kind, cooperative leading man — along the way becoming a friend to the other 12 and rising to the occasion as their reluctant-turned-insightful jury foreperson.
"Ronald Gladden restored my faith in humanity," Heller proudly says. "He not only always made the right decision, but he went above and beyond."
But can they replicate their own success? Can they pull off a similar scheme without a new cast thinking about that one show they watched that one time where everything was fake, and maybe this situation they now find themselves in is another season of that show?
"This sounds very woo-woo, but I really think there was a sort of magic that happened."
You can listen to more of Heller's conversation with The Awardist below, including why they almost didn't include that Ronald won $100,000, the moment she thought he had figured out it was all fake, why Noah really did throw up on the bus after Margaritaville, and more. Plus, EW staff discuss the best comedy series race, as well as supporting actor in a comedy.
Check out more from EW's The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's best in TV.
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