Nathan Fielder and Tom Cruise: A tale of two heroes
These stuntmen feel the most real in the air.
The Rehearsal (Photo: John P. Johnson/HBO), Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning (Photo: Paramount Pictures)
During the fourth episode of The Rehearsal‘s second season, Nathan Fielder tells aviation expert John Goglia that HBO has more or less given him a blank check. The first season of this project was presented as a pseudo-service that Fielder offered to people curious about, say, starting a family. The second, meanwhile, brought the comedian into the forefront as he pursued making commercial flights safer by role-playing cockpit scenarios between pilots. “The only requirement is that everything I’m doing relating to aviation safety has to be somewhat entertaining, I guess,” he mumbles in that aforementioned installment.
In the next episode, Fielder rehearses a hearing where he would present the wisdom he won during the season about aviation safety to Congress. “Mr. Fielder, where does your sense of altruism come from?” grills a faux congressman. “Where all of a sudden you wanna save lives…you’re known for prankin’! For causin’ pranks!” Fielder replies, indignant, “I don’t know what you’re talking about with this prank stuff… Excuse me, sir, I think you have a misunderstanding of my work.” After failing to make inroads in Congress, the season ends with Fielder deciding to pilot a commercial jet full of actors.