"Towards the end when I really did truly believe that's who James was, I was heartbroken. Then after, when I realized that that's not who he was, I was just so relieved," Ronald told GQ (about James Marsden's egotistical portrayal of himself).
Ronald applied for the series through a Craigslist ad, as he was between jobs and saw a listing for people willing to be part of a jury who would be filmed by a camera crew.
Before Ronald knew the whole series was a prank, he said that he was closest to fellow juror Inez, who's played by Maria Russell.
Even though they were playing characters, the other actors tried to be as real as possible with Ronald. When they could, they told him real stories about themselves so they could build a genuine friendship -- they even still talk and hang out together.
To really drive home the "documentary" facade, Ronald only ever saw "three camera people, a producer, and a couple of sound people working on the film," even though the series' production team employed about 100.