‘I think ur my soulmate’: How Ronald Gladden became the nice-guy thirst trap

Ronald Gladden, the unwitting star of Amazon Freevee’s quasi-reality show “Jury Duty,” has been described in many ways: an American hero, the perfect example of the female gaze, a walking green flag and an all-around good guy. Some of his admirers have even called for him to be the next “Bachelor.” (He’s dodged questions regarding if he’s taken or not, saying he wants to remain an enigma.)

Fans have made montages of the 30-year-old’s most alluring moments on TikTok and if you scroll through his Instagram feed — his follower count rose from a few hundred to more than 150,000 since the show released — you’ll see a myriad of heart-faced emojis and comments from people, especially women, publicly professing their love for him.

“Ronald I think I’m in love with you,” one woman commented on a recent post.

Another woman wrote, “I would protect you with my life.”

“I think ur my soulmate I’m not kidding,” commented another.

The attention has been shocking for Gladden. “I never would’ve imagined that I would ever have fans, let alone fans in different countries, people from Japan, Norway, Scotland, Ireland, all over the world,” Gladden, a former solar contractor in San Diego, told GQ. (He wasn’t available to comment for this story at the time of publication.) “I’m thrilled obviously, but it’s a weird feeling that people all over the world can see my face.” He’s now being being represented by the same talent management firm who reps actors Awkwafina and Randall Park.

So why are people so thirsty for this average Joe? After a barrage of bad news about bad guys in Hollywood, he’s emerged as a symbol of hope.

For those who’ve watched “Jury Duty” — a series that follows Gladden as he unknowingly participates on a fake jury and is thrown into increasingly absurd scenarios — there’s a general consensus that he’s genuinely a nice guy. Over the course of eight episodes, Gladden won viewers’ hearts when he showed patience and kindness to James Marsden — playing a satirized version of himself — who pulled a paparazzi stunt that caused the jurors to be sequestered for weeks without their phones.

Instead of ostracizing Todd, a socially awkward juror played by David Brown, who wore what he called “chair pants” in the courtroom, Gladden showed him the movie “A Bug’s Life” to help him accept his eccentricities. And Gladden refused to take $2,000 from another juror after beating him at a Korean gambling game despite the man’s insistence.

Most important, though, as the person in charge of overseeing the jury, Gladden championed a just verdict in the trial despite pushback. The series ends with the fake judge telling him, “We’ve decided that you, Ronald Gladden, are a hero” and awarding him $100,000.

“I think that he was just displaying a lot of calmness and he was very open and very understanding of everybody,” says Sherman Oaks-based therapist Gayane Aramyan. “He was curious and these are just qualities that people are starting to be more appreciative of rather than the ‘bad boy.’ Rather than the person who causes chaos and discomfort. I think that’s what people are really liking.”

From Sandy and Danny’s relationship in “Grease” (1978) to Devi’s pursuit of Paxton in Netflix’s teenage romantic comedy “Never Have I Ever” and Portia’s initial rejection of Albie in the second season of “The White Lotus,” the trope of the good girl falling for the emotionally unavailable bad boy in movies and TV shows has been used in Hollywood for decades. And the times when nice guys are featured, they’re typically used to show the flaws in a female character, says Joi Carr, a professor of English and film who’s also the director of film studies at Pepperdine University.

But Gladden’s depiction on “Jury Duty” offers viewers an alternative option to what the nice guy can look like. The outpouring of love — and lust — for Gladden begs the question as to whether our culture is beginning to shift away from the desire to chase the bad boy and instead go after the good-natured guy.

“For some reason, I don’t think that people believe that the nice guy exists, and so this particular show, ‘Jury Duty,’ touches on a visceral way in which we’ve been thinking about men and who they are in the world,” says Carr. “Here this guy is a real person. He’s real! They do exist and why aren’t we putting them at the center of narratives?”

Throughout the absurd “Jury Duty,” Gladden displayed several traits that parents would likely want in a son-in-law: empathy, compassion, thoughtfulness and he’s easy to be around. He gives off a wholesome vibe, kind of like a friendly teddy bear or the beloved Ted Lasso.

It also doesn’t hurt that Gladden is conventionally attractive, towering at 6-foot-6, with a fit physique, a scruffy beard and eyes that are as adorable as his corgi’s, Meatball. A Twitter user echoed this sentiment: “Ronald Gladden on #JuryDuty is hot AND nice. And the niceness just reinforces the hotness.”

Sabrina Zohar, a San Diego-based dating coach who regularly offers love advice on TikTok, says Gladden’s portrayal shows viewers “that the inside can finally match the outside.”

Zohar says nice guys are typically depicted as someone who is “super nerdy and awkward and doesn’t really understand himself and doesn’t have any game. I think there’s a lot more range of what makes someone a nice guy. And it’s like you can be a nice guy while also having a great sense of humor.”

“[Gladden] was the nice guy, but he had a little bit of a mischievous side … He had more of an evolved personality than just being the nice guy,” adds Zohar, who’s also the podcast host of “Do the Work.” “But I think he wasn’t just such an obviously blatant, bad boy. There’s more depth to this person’s personality than just being nice.”

Gladden also remained true to himself even when he was thrust into the most uncomfortable and strange situations. He wasn’t a pushover or a people-pleaser — traits that are sometimes unfairly associated with nice guys. For example, in one of the show’s wildest scenes, when Noah (played by Mekki Leeper), asked Gladden if he’d jump on the bed in order to simulate sex between him and fellow juror Jeannie (Edy Modica) — in an act known as “soaking” — Gladden politely declined. He giggled in disbelief, but he didn’t judge Noah or say anything to make him feel bad for his strange request. He didn’t yuck someone else’s yum.

Carr says part of the reason that people are enamored by Gladden is because he demonstrated a “love ethic” that people are longing for in their lives on the show.

“It’s when a person treats people with human dignity no matter who they are,” she says. “Even when they don’t agree with who they are or are maybe opposed to some of their choices. And at this time where we’re really struggling with that, here he comes and says, ‘I see you. I’m going to be present and acknowledge your dignity as a human being no matter how weird you might be.’”

She adds, “I think if he looked different, he’d still be attractive because he was an experiment. So no matter what he looked like, he had a chance to come out as a gift to vanity.”

Perhaps one of the most entertaining dynamics on “Jury Duty” is the bromance between Gladden and Marsden, who’s known for playing the superhero Cyclops in “X-Men,” the rich fiancé in “The Notebook” and Prince Edward in “Enchanted.” (Gladden’s favorite film of Marsden’s is “Sex Drive.”) Marsden, who’s graced the covers of Men’s Health and GQ, is a heartthrob in Hollywood. But his self-centered and petty behavior on “Jury Duty” — he destroyed another juror’s birthday cake thinking it was meant for him and he asked Gladden to take the fall for clogging a hotel toilet — made him the less attractive option on the show.

Although Gladden is a shining example of a nice guy coming out on top and being adored by the world, we may still have a long way to go before we start seeing good guys centered in media. But at least we’re starting to have the conversation.