TV fans flabbergasted after star actually flies plane in 'insane' finale
TV viewers were left stunned on Sunday night when the star of a hit documentary series actually flew a plane – Tom Cruise style.
Canadian writer and actor Nathan Fielder, 42, had already stunned fans of his series The Rehearsal after spending millions of dollars to stage a plane crash.
Fielder was then accused of costing an aspiring singer $10,000 (£7,300) after she auditioned for a 'fake talent show' as part of The Rehearsal's season two.
It's safe to say that Fielder, who rose to fame as the star of American docuseries Nathan For You, is willing to push boundaries and prod buttons for his comedy.
But despite his antics down the years, and in recent weeks, even some of Fielder's biggest fans would never have expected him to actually fly a passenger plane.
The second season of The Rehearsal has seen Fielder tackling the issue of airline safety and the relationships between pilots – to complete his task, he actually secured a pilot's license.
'When I first began this project,' he narrated in the season two finale episode, 'I had decided there was no better way to understand pilots than to become one myself.
'But it became clear very quickly that I was not a natural at this. Especially when it came to landing the plane. I was apparently such an abnormal case that they started passing me around to different instructors.'
And it turns out that Fielder not being 'a natural' made for gripping TV that viewers have been unable to get over, with many left on the edges of their seats.
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@ShaveStop was stunned: 'Damn, who the hell knew that this Memorial Day weekend Nathan Fielder would one up Tom Cruise when it came to plane stunts?'
@CharlyTodd concurred: 'I so badly want to know the details of the insurance policies HBO has had to secure on behalf of Nathan Fielder. I am still stunned at him flying that plane.'
@JwyeNFL said: 'I could watch an entire series just on Nathan Fielder negotiating with HBO on all of his ridiculous ideas. How they agreed to let him fly a plane with 150+ people on board is wild.'
Fielder has become known in the world of TV comedy for his ability to blur reality and peoples' perceptions, often staging elaborate schemes and pranks to do so.
@ColtonStock really rated the episode: 'The Rehearsal S2 finale is straight up one of the most impressive feats I've ever seen – somehow a more insane plane stunt than the one in Mission: Impossible.'
At points during the season, Fielder also stepped into the shoes of Sully Sullenberger, the pilot who successfully landed a crashing plane in the Hudson River in New York, saving everyone on board.
The bumper season finale also dances around the question of whether Fielder's trouble with flying might be a result of undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
However, while The Curse actor (which he starred in alongside Emma Stone) learns his diagnosis, the answer is never revealed, leaving viewers to wonder if the test came back positive or negative. More Trending
The Rehearsal fans have wondered on social media over whether the test and diagnosis were genuine, or if Fielder was playing up to peoples' speculations that his awkward persona is a result of ASD.
Minia15 said: 'I would find it very surprising if the joke is that Nathan is negatively representing the ability of people with autism. The bit only works in my mind if he is on the spectrum.'
However, ReedyMarsh commented: 'There's a lot of good that'll come out of this and I reckon he does care, but his milking of any opportunity to be funny means that he's somewhat detached in the context of his shows.'
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Watch The Rehearsal on NowTV and Amazon Prime Video.
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