Ronald Gladden’s Hollywood journey isn’t over.
The solar contractor-turned-breakout star of Amazon hit Jury Duty has inked a two-year overall deal with Amazon MGM Studios. As part of the new pact, he will produce, develop and star in a variety of content.
“Words cannot express how excited I am to officially be a part of the Amazon family,” Gladden said in a statement announcing the news Thursday. “Jury Duty was a remarkable experience for me, and one that introduced me to so many creative and inspiring people. I’m now looking forward to utilizing those new relationships to develop projects for Amazon MGM Studios.”
It’s a wild turn of events as Gladden was the only non-actor involved in the Emmy-nominated Freevee comedy. The affable Oregon native turned up initially thinking that he was simply doing his civic duty, only to learn at the end of eight episodes that every aspect of the trial he’d been brought into was fake, from the case to the judge, attorneys and jury members. By the experimental prank series’ conclusion, however, he had clearly won over audiences.
In fact, Gladden very quickly garnered more than 300,000 followers on Instagram, who got to watch as his life transformed from normal guy to Hollywood heartthrob. Along the way, he posted pictures with Jennifer Lawrence (at the premiere of her film No Hard Feelings), Paul Walter Hauser and Ken Jeong (at the premiere of their Apple series The Afterparty) and Kendall Jenner (at an event for her 818 tequila brand), among others. He even shot a Mint Mobile commercial with Ryan Reynolds. And now, with a two-year deal in place, he’ll make his way back to series production, albeit knowingly this time.
“At the heart of Jury Duty was a story about the power of human kindness, selflessness and empathy,” added Amazon MGM Studios head of AVOD, unscripted and targeted programming Lauren Anderson. “Ronald exemplified this in his ability to genuinely connect with everyone around him, no matter their background, celebrity or idiosyncrasies. We’re excited to collaborate with Ronald and create more opportunities to bring joy, positivity and inspiration to Amazon customers.”
Gladden is repped by Artists First’s Kimberlin Belloni and Casey Neumeier, a member of THR‘s 2023 Next Gen class, along with Dean Bahat at Ziffren Brittenham.
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