What are some words you would use to describe Nathan Fielder? “Awkward,” perhaps. Or maybe “stiff,” as the New York Times did in a review of the new Showtime and A24 series, The Curse, with Emma Stone. Well, you’re wrong. That’s Nathan Fielder doing a character. The real Nathan Fielder is a cool dude who wears little sunglasses, a beret, and all black.
Fielder and Emma Stone dropped by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday to bewilder a studio audience seemingly unfamiliar with Nathan for You and The Rehearsal. There is nervous, confused laughter throughout — it’s great.
At one point, Fielder pulled out the aforementioned New York Times review and made host Jimmy Kimmel read it. “Yeah, man. It’s like, I don’t think they know really, uh, get what acting is,” Fielder said with mock indignation. “They don’t seem to get, they call it ‘limited range’ and ‘stiff,’ but that’s the character, my brother. They don’t get that I’m playing a stiff, nerdy guy, which as you can see is very different from the real me.”
Stone (who is excellent in Poor Things) had Fielder’s back. “He’s an amazing actor. It was really incredible. The whole time we were working together… I was texting him all the time, I was watching dailies, these things, and I was just kind of blown away by everything.” Fielder then made Stone show Kimmel the text, and demanded that the host call the New York Times and read a pre-written statement (“…and a hardcore lesbian”). You can watch the clip above. Be sure to stick around for the Trump joke near the end.