Actor Nathan Fielder bragged his own real-life flight for his HBO show outdid that of Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.
Fielder stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, wearing a sharp pilot’s uniform. Fielder talked about how he flew an actual 737 plane, filled with hundreds of real passengers, in the season 2 finale of his HBO show The Rehearsal.
“We chartered a real flight over the Mojave Desert,” Fielder said, soon adding, “I do think, when people look back at this Miracle over the Mojave, they will see that this might be a turning point in aviation.”
“Are they calling this the Miracle over the Mojave?” asked Kimmel.
“I feel like I’ve seen people calling it that online,” Fielder said.
He continued, “But people are saying, of the miracle flights—which are flights branded with the word ‘miracle’ in it—people are saying this is the most significant one.”
Fielder’s comments seemed especially loaded considering how his third episode of The Rehearsal season 2, “Pilot’s Code,” featured a deep historical dive into the life of Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.
Sully famously pulled off an emergency plane landing on the Hudson River in 2009, named “The Miracle on the Hudson” because every single passenger survived.
Fielder, however, no longer seems so impressed with Sully’s achievement.
“I mean, not to create a competition or anything, but I did put down my plane safely on land,” Fielder pointed out.
“So you’re one up on Sully for sure,” Kimmel jokingly agreed.
“Us pilots, we just show up to work and we’re just doing our job,” Fielder continued. “And, like, I wouldn’t call myself… I’m not calling myself a hero, but if people say that…”
“I would say you’re a hero,” Kimmel said.
“Well, yeah, that’s fair,” Fielder replied.
Fielder’s interview comes amid mass speculation among The Rehearsal viewers over just how much of the season 2 finale was real or staged. When Kimmel asked about this, Fielder clarified that the part about him being a licensed pilot was indeed real:
“I trained for almost two and a half years, and worked my way up through private, pilot, instrument, commercial, and I got a 737 type rating,” Fielder explained. “So I am a licensed 737 pilot.”
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