Who is Nathan Fielder? A guide to the mad genius behind the hot new Elizabeth Holmes doc

If you happened to catch the new documentary “You Can See Everything,” you probably left the theater with a lot of questions. “What the hell did I just watch?” was likely your initial thought, followed by, “What brilliant mind hatched such a subversive, unpredictable project?” To which I say: Welcome to the world of Nathan Fielder.

The film, co-directed by Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, ostensibly follows disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in the 34 days before her prison sentence begins. But as the Canadian comic goes eye-to-eye with Holmes, it morphs into much more — including a character study of both its subject and its interviewer.

Fielder is well-known to comedy fans for his docuseries “The Rehearsal” and “Nathan for You,” where he honed his brand of awkward absurdity. But those unfamiliar with his surreal talk show appearances, Dumb Starbucks or Door City, here’s a primer on the origin and rise of Fielder.

Video shorts

Fielder was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, and started comedy at a young age. He was in a school improv group alongside another future multi-hyphenate, Seth Rogen. After attending business school, he dabbled in comedy. He began uploading shorts to his YouTube channel in early 2006 — and it’s a credit to his self-effacing style that they’re still online today. Early musical shorts like “Morning Walk” and “Danielleanika” lean into his stoic, awkward persona as he pretends to rap or sing a passionate love song. These led to slightly more traditional sketches, such as “Ronald Shoub,” an infomercial parody in which he portrays a celebrity psychic proclaiming, “I invite everyone to come inside me.”

‘This Hour Has 22 Minutes’

In 2007, Fielder joined the Canadian series “This Hour Has 22 Minutes,” a news/sketch series hybrid in the vein of “The Daily Show.” His recurring segment “Nathan on Your Side” was the first use of a gauche interviewing style. Pretending to investigate a topic, he instead furthered his personal agenda. In one, he interviews a matchmaker, but is actually trying to kiss her. In another, he enlists a pizza shop owner to convince viewers they’re shooting in Italy by asking him to speak in a stereotypical Italian accent and pass off local buildings as famous landmarks. He complies with the latter, showing Fielder’s ability to make his subjects accomplices.

‘Nathan for You’

Fielder came to America and cut his teeth on Comedy Central shows like “Jon Benjamin Has a Van” and “Important Things With Demetri Martin.” The network gave him his own series in 2013, “Nathan for You,” which ran for four seasons and spawned a spinoff movie, “Finding Frances.” Presenting himself as a consumer advocate, Fielder bragged, “I graduated from one of Canada’s top business schools with really good grades” — both vague and technically true. He then offered wild ideas to “help” local businesses. Some were lowbrow — such as a frozen yogurt shop adding a “poo” flavor and testing a soundproof “sex box” by placing a child inside to shield them from a porn shoot staged outside in the same room.

Often they were seemingly simple premises that took advantage of legal loopholes — perhaps most famous was when he rebranded a local coffee shop as “Dumb Starbucks.” In “The Claw of Shame,” Fielder wanted to learn to be an escape artist. To up the stakes, he handcuffed himself in front of a group of children. If he didn’t escape in 90 seconds, his pants would be pulled down, which would put him at risk of becoming a sex offender. When he learned anyone who helped him would also be charged, he had a robot claw built that would undress him instead.

Then there were those that seemed excessive or even morally questionable. For “The Hero,” he wanted to turn an ordinary man named Corey into a celebrity. This involved training for seven months to walk a wire 80 feet in the air while disguised as Corey — complete with extensive prosthetics. To fully commit, Nathan went on a date, as Corey, so that Corey himself could later get a kiss from the woman after the successful high-wire act.

‘Finding Frances’

“Nathan for You” culminated with the film “Finding Frances,” which brought back one of the wacky characters from his show — a Bill Gates impersonator named Bill Heath — to help Fielder track down a lost love. But much like “You Can See Everything,” the film also features Fielder as a major character — he begins spending time with a kind escort named Maci. He presents himself as unlucky in relationships and while interviewing her, seems to develop genuine feelings. While not necessarily romantic, it’s implied in “You Can See Everything” that the same thing happens with Holmes.

Nathan Fielder learned to pilot a Boeing 737 for his show “The Rehearsal.”

(John P. Johnson / HBO)

‘The Rehearsal’

Audiences surprised that Fielder actually moved in with Holmes and Evans or staged recreations of conversations likely aren’t familiar with “The Rehearsal,” the HBO series in which he helped strangers rehearse situations before enacting them in the real world. The first episode featured Kor Skeete, a man who wanted to tell his trivia team that he had lied for 12 years about having a master’s degree. But Fielder didn’t just do test runs for others — nervous to meet Skeete, he built a replica of the latter’s apartment for himself. Upon noticing a grouping of doors in one area when meeting Skeete in person, Fielder says, “Oh, door city over here,” a premeditated line he had actually rehearsed. But most of the season focused on a woman named Angela Sankovich who wanted a trial run at motherhood so Fielder moved in with her and “raised” a child (played by actors of increasing age) over the course of weeks.

If that seems committed, it was nothing compared to Season 2, when Fielder examined airline safety. Fielder not only learned to pilot a Boeing 737, but decided to embody hero pilot Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger by being “birthed” as Sully and being breastfed from an oversized papier-mâché puppet.

Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone portrayed an image-obsessed couple behind an HGTV show called “Flipanthropy.”

(Richard Foreman Jr. / A24 / Paramount+ with Showtime)

‘The Curse’

Fielder had small parts in the films “Tour de Pharmacy” and “The Disaster Artist” and often did sketches playing up his awkward persona — in one, he duets with Marion Cotillard and appears uncomfortable with her flirting. He often appeared on talk shows with a specific bit — such as bringing Susan Sarandon along as a back-up guest on “Conan.” A promotion for the show “How to With John Wilson,” which he executive produced, escalated into a sketch about Fielder mentoring a group of influencers in a “TikTok Hype House,” even controlling what they eat.

But the Showtime series “The Curse” marked his first lead “acting” role in a series. Fielder and Emma Stone portrayed an image-obsessed couple trying to produce an HGTV show called “Flipanthropy.” While Fielder’s character, Asher Siegel, seems to share a lot of DNA with the character of Nathan Fielder, audiences didn’t embrace Asher nearly as warmly.

Lance Oppenheim, left, and Nathan Fielder co-directed “You Can See Everything.”

(Chris Maggio / A24)

‘You Can See Everything’

Not concerned with (or unaware of) normal social niceties, Fielder has no hesitation at letting long, awkward silences play out or asking blunt questions. “Why’d you take the eggs over?” he blurts when Evans stops Holmes from whisking in order to do it the “right way.” At another point, he gives them some alone time to be intimate and when they emerge, he asks: “How was it?” In his work, Fielder often acts confused about how regular people think and operate. With Holmes, who claims to have never lied in her life, he may have met his match.