Nathan Fielder Makes Emma Stone, Jimmy Kimmel Defend His Actually Really Good Acting Chops

Nathan Fielder, the famously laidback, always relaxed actor and comedian, roped Jimmy Kimmel and his Curse co-star Emma Stone into his ludicrous efforts to set the record straight about his performance in the new Showtime series.

For Fielder and Stone’s joint appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live promoting the series, the former showed up in some S-tier drip — big black coat, big black jeans, big black shoes, tight black beanie, and tiny black sunglasses (and a Cross necklace for good measure). While Kimmel seemed taken aback by the new attire, Fielder assured him: “You might be confused, maybe, because I’ve been on your show before, and I’ve done other things, but I’m doing a character. But this is me.”

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Stone quickly backed him up, quipping, “This is the Nathan I met!”

But while Fielder’s demeanor may have been super chill, he admitted he was bothered by a recent New York Times review of The Curse — specifically, the claim that his performance was “stiff” and “limited.” Fielder insisted, “They don’t get that I’m playing a stiff, nerdy guy, which as you can see, is very different than the real me.”

To prove his point, Fielder insisted that Stone read an “old text” she sent him while they were making The Curse, raving about his performance. He then made Kimmel call The New York Times and demand a correction. Reading a script Fielder provided, Kimmel deadpanned: “I happen to know Nathan personally, and he’s one of the loosest guys I ever met and a hardcore lesbian” — prompting Fielder to lean over and whisper, “It should say thespian!”

If you thought Fielder couldn’t possibly wring any more out of this bit, you’d obviously be wrong. Later, he tried smoking a cigarette, but out of lighter fluid, he was left to inhale “as much tobacco air as I can.” He then insisted he would be spending his Thanksgiving doing “secret” auditions for elite actors, then proceeded to claim he taught Stone a few things about the craft while they were filming The Curse.

“You know, she has an Oscar,” Kimmel said, to which Fielder quickly replied: “Yeah but, I mean, you give those things out.”

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