With a construction crew, a legion of actors, and seemingly unlimited resources, Nathan Fielder allows ordinary people to prepare for life’s biggest moments by “rehearsing” them in carefully crafted simulations of his own design. When a single misstep could shatter your entire world, why leave life to chance?
The Rehearsal is an American docu-comedy television series created, written, directed by and starring Nathan Fielder. It premiered on HBO on July 15, 2022, to critical acclaim. It was renewed for a second season in August 2022, which premiered on April 20, 2025.The Rehearsal features Nathan Fielder, as a fictionalized version of himself, helping ordinary people rehearse upcoming difficult conversations or life events through the use of sets and actors hired to recreate real situations.
This article undertakes an analysis of Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal (2022—) through the lens of essay cinema. While existing scholarship has explored The Rehearsal through the frameworks of documentary, reality television, and the mockumentary, none has yet situated it within the essay form (see Mittel, 2004; McLeod, 2018; Schonig, 2025).
