Created by Nathan Fielder.
The Rehearsal premiered on July 15, 2022.
Distributed by HBO and streams worldwide on Max.
Series Review
Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal is one of the strangest and smartest shows on TV.
It mixes real life with staged setups, letting people “practice” big moments like telling a secret, ending a friendship, or raising a child.
The result is funny, awkward, and surprisingly emotional.
Season 1 introduces the idea. Nathan creates life-size sets and hires actors so people can rehearse important conversations.
It’s often hilarious but also raises tough questions, can you really prepare for life, or does it just make things more complicated?
Season 2 takes the concept further. The rehearsals become bigger and more extreme, including huge simulations that push people to their limits.
The season is more focused and emotional, showing both the power and the risks of Nathan’s unusual method.
In short, The Rehearsal is weird, thoughtful, and unlike anything else, perfect for viewers who enjoy smart, bold, and unpredictable TV.
Ratings
• IMDb: 8.5/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
• Google Audience Score: 86% liked this TV show.
The Rehearsal Actors
Nathan Fielder as Nathan Fielder
DOB: May 12, 1983.
Bio: Canadian comedian, writer, director, and producer best known for his deadpan comedic style and unconventional reality-based storytelling.
He first gained widespread recognition with Nathan for You, a satirical business-consulting show, and has since become a defining voice in boundary-pushing television.
Role: Nathan plays a fictionalized version of himself who helps ordinary people prepare for difficult conversations and life events by building giant, hyper-realistic rehearsals staffed with actors.
He’s the architect, the manipulator, and the moral center of the show, and the person whose own motives and insecurities the series probes.
Seasons & Episodes: Season 1–2 (12 eps).
What to Expect: Absurdly detailed recreations, moments of cringe-comedy, and unexpectedly emotional explorations of identity and ethics.
Interesting facts: Fielder studied business at the University of Victoria and trained in comedy at the Canadian improv institution, the Loose Moose Theatre.
His HBO overall deal allowed him to develop The Rehearsal, following his work as executive producer on How To with John Wilson.
Notable Works: Nathan for You, The Curse, executive producer on How To with John Wilson.
Kor Skeete as Himself (Kor)
DOB: N/A..
Bio: Brooklyn-based New Yorker introduced in the premiere episode of The Rehearsal.
He is not an actor but a real individual who became the first subject of Nathan Fielder’s experiment.
Role: Kor appears as a participant (“client”) in Season 1, Episode 1.
With Nathan’s help, he rehearses confessing to his friend about having misrepresented his academic credentials.
The elaborate setup, a perfect replica of a Brooklyn bar and actors playing his friends, becomes the prototype for the show’s rehearsal concept.
Seasons & Episodes: Season 1 (1 eps).
What to Expect: A mix of vulnerability and awkward comedy as Kor struggles between truth and fear of rejection.
Interesting facts: Kor was the series’ “first subject,” and his storyline became a proof-of-concept for the ambitious rehearsals that followed.
His episode raised immediate questions about how much the show manipulates or supports its participants.
Notable Works: Appears as himself in The Rehearsal.
K. Todd Freeman as “Fake Kor” / Actor
DOB: July 9, 1965.
Bio: American actor with deep roots in both stage and screen.
A longtime ensemble member of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, he is celebrated for his versatility, precision, and emotional depth.
He has received Tony Award nominations for Song of Jacob Zulu and Airline Highway and is known to audiences worldwide for his television and film work
Role: Fake Kor, the professional actor hired by Nathan Fielder to portray real-life subject Kor Skeete during rehearsal sequences.
His job is to mimic Kor’s personality, speech, and mannerisms so that Nathan can test-drive interactions in a controlled, theatrical space.
Seasons & Episodes: Season 1 (1 ep).
What to Expect: Deliberate, detailed acting that highlights the blurred line between imitation and caricature.
Interesting facts: Freeman is a longtime Steppenwolf company member and a Tony-nominated stage star; here he uses that craft to play an actor who’s imitating a real person.
Notable Works: A Series of Unfortunate Events (Mr. Poe), Grosse Pointe Blank, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Dark Knight.
Anna Lamadrid as Fake Angela / Lori Chavez-Deremer / other roles
DOB: N/A.
Bio: American actress and writer with theatre, film, and television experience.
She has trained extensively in character work and improvisation, which makes her a strong fit for The Rehearsal’s layered performances.
Role: Lamadrid appears in The Rehearsal as a rehearsal stand-in, most memorably as “Fake Angela,” mirroring the real-life participant Angela in Nathan Fielder’s elaborate social experiments.
She also portrays other staged characters such as “Lori Chavez-Deremer” and additional background roles, becoming part of the surreal doubling effect that defines the series.
Seasons & Episodes: Season 1–2 (4 eps).
What to Expect: Layered acting, she performs a character who’s performing another character, which produces uncanny beats.
Interesting facts: Performances that sit at the boundary between mimicry and caricature, Lamadrid’s acting underscores the strangeness of watching someone play a “copy” of another real person.
Notable Works: The Rehearsal, along with theatre credits and short film/TV appearances (including independent projects).
Thomas McNamara as (various: Clown Scenario Actor, EMT, Thomas)
DOB: April 2, 1993.
Bio: American actor and comedian with a strong background in improv and stage performance.
His versatility made him a recurring presence in The Rehearsal, where he frequently shifted between multiple roles across Nathan Fielder’s elaborate staged worlds.
Role: McNamara portrays several supporting characters, including an actor in the “Clown” rehearsal exercise, an EMT/paramedic in staged crisis scenarios, and “Thomas,” among other roles.
Seasons & Episodes: Season 1–2 (4 eps).
What to Expect: Dependable, reactive performances that sell the constructed worlds Nathan builds.
Interesting facts: The show’s ensemble actors often come from improv and theatre backgrounds to sustain long, repeated takes.
Notable Works: The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Give Me My Baby.
Journey Baker as Adam
DOB: N/A.
Bio: Journey Baker is one of the child actors who portrayed “Adam,” Nathan Fielder’s pretend son, in The Rehearsal’s Season 1 parenting storyline.
The series cast multiple children to play Adam at different ages, creating a rotating, surreal sense of time as Nathan rehearsed parenting scenarios.
Role: As six-year-old Adam, Baker helped bring to life one of the show’s most ambitious experiments: simulating years of child-rearing in a compressed, staged environment.
Seasons & Episodes: Season 1–2 (4 eps).
What to Expect: Natural, childlike performances that contrast with the rehearsals’ artificial structure.
Interesting facts: The Rehearsal famously swaps babies and child actors for legal and safety reasons, it’s part of what makes the sequence surreal.
Notable Works: The Rehearsal (Season 1 – as Adam, age 6).
Alexander Leiss as Fake Nathan
DOB: N/A.
Bio: Alexander Leiss is an actor who appears in The Rehearsal as one of the performers hired to portray Nathan Fielder himself in staged scenarios.
Role: As “Fake Nathan,” Leiss performs a version of Nathan in rehearsals, giving the real Nathan a chance to observe his own mannerisms, decisions, and social awkwardness from the outside.
Seasons & Episodes: Season 1–2 (3 eps).
What to Expect: An uncanny imitation that highlights the show’s questions about identity and authorship.
Interesting facts: Playing the showrunner back to himself is one of the series’ recurring surreal devices.
Notable Works: Credited on The Rehearsal.
Ashleigh Morghan as (Ashleigh / Clown Scenario Actor / EMT)
DOB: 1990.
Bio: Ashleigh Morghan is an actress known for her versatility across film, television, and stage.
She appears in The Rehearsal as part of the ensemble of professional actors Nathan Fielder hires to populate and simulate complex scenarios.
Role: Morghan plays multiple characters throughout the rehearsals, including herself, a clown scenario performer, and an EMT, switching between roles as Nathan’s simulations demand.
Seasons & Episodes: Season 1–2 (3 eps).
What to Expect: Flexibility and quick character shifts, the show relies on performers like her to keep scenes believable.
Interesting facts: Many ensemble members are credited under multiple small parts that together form the “company” Nathan runs.
Notable Works: Superman, Grand Crew, Ruthless.
Jennifer Khoe as Fake Producer (and other small roles)
DOB: N/A.
Bio: Jennifer Khoe is an actress and performer who appears in The Rehearsal as part of Nathan Fielder’s ensemble of actors hired to populate and sustain his elaborate simulations.
Role: Khoe frequently portrays production-side figures, such as a “fake producer,” along with other small but essential parts within rehearsal scenarios.
Seasons & Episodes: Season 1–2 (3 eps).
What to Expect: Short, telling beats that cue the realism of constructed spaces.
Interesting facts: The Rehearsal relies on ensemble actors like Khoe to fill invisible but crucial spaces in simulations, making them feel lived-in and immersive.
Notable Works: Kung Fu, The Last Thing He Told Me.
Dan Bauer as Corporate Airlines First Officer / Airport Actor
DOB: N/A.
Bio: Dan Bauer is an actor featured in Season 2 of The Rehearsal, where Nathan Fielder builds one of his most ambitious staged environments, a fully simulated airport and airline setting.
Role: He portrays both a first officer in the simulated airline crew and other airport-related roles within Nathan’s elaborate airline safety rehearsal.
Seasons & Episodes: Season 2 (2 eps).
What to Expect: Work that requires procedural realism and technical dialogue, the airport episodes are tense and painstaking.
Interesting facts: Season 2 expanded the scale of Nathan’s projects dramatically, requiring many professional lookalikes and procedural actors.
Notable Works: FBI, American Crime Story.
More Actors
Season 1 (2022)
• Joshua James Benard as Adam.
• Isaac Lamb as Fake Brother.
• Charlie Cherman as Baby Adam.
• Vincent Cefelu as Fake Grandpa.
Season 2 (2025)
• Eric Barron as First Air First Officer/Passenger #7.
• Brandon Delsid as Wings of Voice.
• Gregory Gast as First Air Captain.
• Tripp Pickell as Air Florida Captain/Actor-Flight Passenger.
FAQ – The Rehearsal TV Series
Is it real or scripted?
It’s a hybrid, participants are real people, but the show stages elaborate, scripted simulations; critics debate how much is “real” vs. constructed.
Will there be a Season 3?
As of now, no official Season 3 has been greenlit. HBO executives and Nathan have hinted interest and discussed ideas, but nothing is confirmed publicly. More on Esquire
Is Nathan Fielder really a pilot?
Nathan Fielder is not a real pilot. The airplane scenes in The Rehearsal were staged as part of the show’s simulations, not actual flight training.
How many seasons and episodes are there?
Two seasons, 12 episodes total (six episodes per season).
Where can I watch it?
On HBO and streaming on Max.
Conclusion
The Rehearsal is not just a comedy show, it’s a thought-provoking experiment about how we deal with life’s challenges.
By mixing humor, awkwardness, and real emotions, Nathan Fielder creates something that feels both uncomfortable and deeply human.
Season 1 shows the potential of rehearsing real situations, while Season 2 pushes the idea to new extremes, forcing us to think about control, honesty, and what it means to be real.
If you like shows that make you laugh, squirm, and think all at the same time, The Rehearsal is worth watching.
It’s strange, unique, and stays with you long after it ends.