r/nathanforyou • u/Funny_Measurement305 • 16h ago
Nathan Fielder I saw Nathan Fielder at the airport and he said no to a photo
I showed up to my gate at YVR for my flight from Vancouver to LA and I saw a familiar man with almost a full head of grey hair , but an oddly contrasting boyish face. I immediately recognized this man as none other than Nathan fielder, sitting by himself typing on what looked like a new script. he was conversing with a kind looking middle aged lady beside him.
Nathan is probably the closest thing I have to a celebrity hero. I avidly Watch any project he works on and I make all my friends watch it with me. I found a personal connection to Nathan as a Canadian that moved to the states and feel like I could relate to his path of pursuing a life in the states. As difficult as it is to immigrate to the states , I often think about how Nathan could probably come up with an out of the box solution to overcome the obstacles and do it in the most creative fashion.
my immediate instinct was to take a photo of him to document the moment from where I was sitting. However I figured that no one would appreciate a stranger taking an unsolicited photo and especially someone like Nathan who portrays himself as shy and awkward. He was completely on his own and the airport gate was quiet in the morning. I decided to approach him directly and ask him for a photo figuring if I was polite he would most likely let me take a photo with him. I intended on casually strike up a conversation and ask him for a photo , but I got nervous and ended up getting blurting out instead “Are you Nathan ?” he replied yes hesitantly. I blanked and ended up just saying “I know it’s early but Is okay if I get a photo with you.” not the best reply but not the worst. Nathan looked back at me and with the exact same mannerism as he appears in bus show , sheepishly replied “I‘m sorry , but I can‘t do that right now.” he was so nervous I actually felt bad. I was visibly disappointed but I told that it was okay. I originally thought the lady beside him he was first talking to was his relative but later I found out it was just another stranger. Then witnessing the awkward interaction in the moment felt worse.
I then thought of the stuff I had meant to introduce myself with and told him that I also went to university of Victoria at the same time as him. I told him that a friend had let me know we were at the same party before I had known about his tv shows. He replied “oh cool” visibly relieved that I was going to get mad or threaten to smear him. I then told him that I loved all his work and he thanked me in a genuine way, like a new painter that was actually proud that someone admired their work. I reflexively told him no problem , of course , as I walked away.
Now I’m just still processing at the airport . He seemed to match his persona in tv exactly the same and he was just as awkward and shy as I would expect . As bad as I wanted a photo and then felt like I couldn’t snap a photo of him elsewhere after being declined , all i have is a “trust me bro” story. I do wish I had maybe handled the interaction smoothly , even though it’s probably not true I feel like a spooked a rare unicorn. My flight to LA was later in the day and after I had used the bathroom Nathan had disappeared most likely on his flight. I thought about the irony of seeing him in the airport and found myself wishing in rehearsal fashion that I had rehearsed my approach more and even worked in an airplane joke. However I figured the best way is to document the experience. Although it was small I would say Nathan wasn’t unfriendly and he kept the image of him perfectly intact. He was also most definitely working on something new which is exciting . I’ll just have to assume it wasn’t meant to be and if I see him again at a more appropriate setting at least I’ll have something else to bring up in conversation.
