The Rehearsal (2022) s01e06 Episode Script

Okay, okay, wait. You have to wait
for everyone else to play too.
We only have so many balloons.
Adam, would you do Daddy a favor and
get the root beer from the kitchen for me?
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
- Got the root beer.
- Thanks, Adam.
- Happy Birthday.
- Oh, yeah. Thanks.
Adam is the birthday boy.
This is your child, he's Adam's friend.
And this is Adam's birthday gift.
Adam was turning nine
and I realized I hadn't thrown him
a single birthday party.
To save money
it was suggested I use background
actors for all the party guests.
But I only remember
once they showed up
that union rules prohibit extras
from speaking.
I guess they say gluten-free
is, like, healthier.
Yeah.
I guess when normal shows
do stuff like this,
they add fake party chatter
in post-production.
But when the point is to actually
experience it in the moment,
it doesn't quite work.
you can clap. Yeah.
It wasn't the most realistic party
but it saved us
over fifteen thousand dollars.
And most importantly,
Adam seemed to be having a blast.
Like he's mixing the two together,
like Christmas and,
like, Christmas trees and Hanukkah.
Now that the six-year-old actors
were done,
one of the mothers requested I unravel
some of the stuff her son had learned
during the rehearsal.
- Jesus is almighty.
- Our savior.
- Our savior.
- Your savior.
- Our king.
He is the savior and the king.
And Judaism is just some,
like, pretend thing.
You should be excited to be Christian
because you get to go heaven,
but I have to go to hell as a Jew
and so you should not wanna be Jewish
because you'll suffer like me
and I'll burn.
Yeah.
With everything, I was having to deal
with behind the scenes,
I was starting to feel like I was
constantly being pulled away
from the experienceof fatherhood,
I was hoping to rehearse.
During the party, there was one child
actor who played Adam at age six
that kept sneaking back into the home
after the nine-year-old
had already taken over.
It was the end of his final day
and he was refusing to change
out of his Adam wardrobe.
- No!
- Come on, let's go change your clothes.
- I don't wanna leave.
- It's okay.
- You wanna give him a hug?
We'll see, we're gonna come back
and see him again.
Yeah, yeah, I can see you.
Oh, it's okay.
- Give him a hug.
- It's okay. We'll see you again.
We'll see each other again.
His name was Remy.
And if I'm being honest,
out of all the kids in this project,
I sort of got along
with him the most.
I'm here to see the doctor.
I'm Doctor Fart,
come have a seat.
Okay, thank you.
I assumed he was just having
a normal kid tantrum.
- Hey.
- I don't wanna leave.
Okay, but listen, here's the thing,
we have to leave.
But then, his mom Amber gave me some
insight as to what might be going on.
Now that he's getting older,
he sees other kids with dads
and at school, there's dads
picking up their kids,
and he's definitely wondering,
where's mine?
- Oh, really?
- Yeah. It's really tough.
This morning, I was explaining to him,
"You know, you're gonna be Adam today,
you're gonna have a birthday party."
And, you know, he's like, "Oh, is my
pretend daddy gonna be there?"
I said, "Yeah," and he goes,
"My pretend daddy loves me."
My heart literally broke
Actually, even talking about it,
I could almost cry
just 'cause I feel bad for him
Yeah, it is what it is.
Are you gonna say bye?
- Bye, I don't wanna leave you.
- It's okay.
It's okay.
We'll see each other soon.
I'm sure, okay?
Okay.
All right, guys.
- Thank you.
- It's okay.
And after that,
I found myself struggling to transfer
my emotions to the new Adam.
Hey, Dad. That party was so fun.
I got to see all my friends.
Glad you had a good time.
You're the best dad. I love you.
I love you too.
I'm gonna go back to playing.
- All right.
- Bye, Dad.
Bye.
I had enrolled Adam
in a Jewish elementary school
to continue his spiritual learning.
It made me feel like a good Jew.
Even though I knew the moment
I looked away
his real parents would pull up
and intercept him,
so they could take him
to his real school.
I planned several challenges
for myself
that I feltn a real parent might face.
So, at 4 p.m., when he was brought
back for me to pick up,
the actors were instructed to launch
into a scenario I had scripted.
Hey, Adam. I'm having
a sleepover this weekend.
- You wanna come?
- Sure.
Well, you're not invited.
So how are you gonna come then?
Don't cry, Adam.
My hopen was that I could practice
counseling my child through a complex
emotional experience,
an area where I fear as a real father,
I may fall short.
I wanted to go
to that sleepover.
You really want to be friends
with those guys?
Maybe next time they ask you to hang
out you should just say no.
- You wanna practice that?
- Sure.
Hey, Adam, you want
to come to my sleepover?
No, thanks.
Good.
See now, they don't have
any power over you.
Right? You're in control because
you don't want anything from them.
You don't want their friendship.
But I was starting to feel like I was
just solving a puzzle of my own design.
Thanks, Dad.
No problem.
And instead of being present
with my son, my mind was elsewhere.
I spent a week with a child who had
no dad, pretending that I was his dad.
What's the guy's name
in the house?
Daddy.
What did I think
was gonna happen?
I love you, Daddy.
- What did you say?
- I love you, Daddy.
I love you too, Adam.
His mom had reached out
asking if I wanted to come visit.
Maybe it was time to check in.
- Hey.
- Hey, buddy.
- Come here.
- Okay.
- Look at that there.
- What is that?
That's you and that's me
at the birthday party.
- That's me?
It was strange being
in a real child's home
after being in a fake one
for so long.
I wasn't used to
this level of detail.
Every object was perfectly placed
but nothing was by design.
It was a work of art.
And it was just real life.
Daddy.
- Hey.
- Daddy.
- Yeah.
- Look, I made this at school.
- Hey, hey.
- What?
You don't have to call me daddy,
you can call me Nathan, okay?
No, don't be silly.
No, because we're just playing daddy,
remember? We're just pretending.
I don't want you to be "Athan."
I want you to be Daddy.
Right, but we were just pretending, right?
So, now we're back to Remy and Nathan.
I don't want you to be Nathan.
Well, that's my name.
Has he been doing that?
Yeah.
I wondered about that when
a really difficult role for a child
who really doesn't have a dad
and he's just like
doesn't want it to not be real.
So, it's actually really sad.
He's such a cool kid.
Sorry. I'm don't even know why
- No.
- I love him to pieces.
So, like,
I hope this isn't affecting him.
But it was really cool, and I know he
loved it, and he had, like a lot of fun.
And it's not like I think anybody
did anything wrong.
It's just more
like my mind wondering.
Yeah.
Does he know what acting is?
Like, does he understand
I don't know.
I really don't, honestly.
I'm not sure.
Look what the bird give me.
- The bird gave you that?
- Yeah.
What is that?
Can you listen to this?
This is very important, okay?
- Why?
- It's very important.
So, remember
how we are making a TV show?
I'm Nathan, right?
You know that?
- I don't want you to be Nathan.
- But honey, listen.
When we were doing daddy,
that was pretend
- We were making a show.
- We were playing.
- And it was fun.
- And acting.
Do you remember when we were
being dinosaurs?
And chasing each other around
as dinosaurs.
- Yeah.
- We weren't really dinosaurs, right?
We were just playing
and having fun, right?
I really be punching the dinosaur.
Yeah, and that's kind of like
when we were doing Daddy and Adam.
That was just play
like dinosaurs.
But in real life,
you're Remy and I'm Nathan,
and we're just friends, right?
- We're just friends.
- Right?
Does that make sense?
Nothing.
No, friends hang out
and have a fun time
and then they go do
their own life,
and then they'll talk, and like,
hang out sometimes and it's fun, right?
No, you have to call me Nathan.
Come here. I need to tell you.
This is very important, Remy.
Come on, listen to me.
Listen to me.
That is not your daddy.
That's not your daddy.
That's our friend Nathan.
And you are Remy
and you're not Adam.
And we were
just playing pretend.
Okay?
Yeah.
Thank you.
- What?
I just wanna stay with him.
- Yeah.
- Bye, Nathan.?
- Good, okay.
- I still love Nathan.
- I know.
That's okay, you can still love him
and he can be your friend.
So, did you see
that guy Max again?
How'd that go?
- Amazing.
- Yeah?
They invited me to something,
I said no.
So, they just walked away.
Great.
- Guess your advice did work.
- Good.
You know
I'm not your real dad, right?
Wait, what?
I'm not actually your dad.
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- Like we're just acting.
- Yeah.
- You know that right?
- Yeah, yeah.
And you understand
what that means?
- Yes.
- Okay.
Do you have a dad?
- Yes.
- Okay.
you're a good actor.
So you can't tell,
I just wanted to be sure.
Okay.
Do you feel like, I'm like,
You're a great scene partner.
- Good.
- Yeah.
What on earth was I doing?
Everything about this rehearsal
just felt so trivial now.
Maybe the best use of my resources
at this point
would be to figure out
what I could have done differently.
- What did you say?
- I love you, daddy.
I love you too, Adam.
To live these moments again.
And seen if there was a better path.
I'm Doctor Fart,
come have a seat.
Kinda hear how he talks.
After all, how can you
move on from a mistake
if you don't even know
what you could have done to avoid it.
- What did you say?
- I love you, Daddy.
Refer to me as Nathan, please.
Is that okay?
Yeah, okay.
I tried experimenting
with a slightly colder demeanor.
Okay. You don't need to hold my hand
you're a big boy now. Okay?
To see if it could have helped prevent
a bond being formed.
just let's play the game.
We can still have fun.
We don't need to hug.
Daddy, can you read me
a bedtime story?
Aren't you old enough
to read by yourself?
But all this forced detachment
felt like it was defeating the purpose
of rehearsing being a parent.
All right, maybe a quick one.
Perhaps I could have
avoided these issues,
if I used older kids
to play the younger ones.
I love you, Daddy.
- What did you say?
- I said I love you, Daddy.
I love you too, Adam.
Then I could have been just
as affectionate and caring towards them
and they would
never get confused.
No!
If their performance
was good enough,
maybe I could have looked past
any visual inconsistencies
Yeah!
It's not hard to be in the moment
with a great actor.
But even though
I gave it my best,
something about this
just didn't sit right.
- Goodnight, Adam.
- Goodnight, Daddy.
And I found myself
constantly distracted
by the thought that I was living
with a fully grown man.
And removing humans
from the equation entirely
proved to be just as weird.
I love you too, Adam.
Well, if there was nothing I could
have done differently with the kids,
maybe I could have changed
my approach with the parents.
- Amber.
- Amber.
Good to meet you.
Okay, come on in.
- Nice to meet you.
- Yeah.
What could I have said?
Or should I have done something
different on that day we said goodbye.
It's okay.
What?
What can I do?
What do you want?
I don't wanna leave.
We can say goodbye.
You wanna give him a hug?
Hey.
So, maybe it was Angela.
That was so much fun, right?
If she had never left,
maybe that would have made
all the difference.
You have to be good
and listen to your mom, okay?
She was so good
with the kids.
Okay.
Thank you.
Bye.
And with a fake mom
in the house the whole time,
maybe he would have known
it was all pretend.
You see.
But what could I have done differently
to make her stay?
Things can improve.
I can improve.
I just feel like, we're just going back in
circles and that's never gonna change.
I'll just take my tea.
But what could I have said?
What could I have done?
No, don't go.
That's all you have to say?
Yeah.
Okay.
Well then,
I'll just take my tea.
Why do I always end up here?
I can change
in small ways, for sure.
Well then,
I think you've made your choice.
I'll get my tea.
- I'm sorry, I am who I am.
- And I am who I am.
Right.
I'll just get my tea.
How doesn this keep happening to me?
What else can you do
when you're trying your best?
- Okay.
I'll just take my tea.
I just wanted to apologize
you aren't taking
this seriously.
You were navigating it
So, I'm sorry.
I was the problem, not you.
I appreciate you saying that.
All is forgiven.
Really? Just like that?
There's a scripture that talks about
forgiving someone seven times.
But Jesus says the new teaching
Is that 77 times seven.
And then Peter came up to him and said,
"Lord, how often shall my brother sin
against me and I forgive him?"
"As many as seven times."
And then Jesus said, "I do not say to you
seven times, but 70 times seven."
So, it's like if we have to forgive
our neighbor that much,
and we have to love ourselves
like we love our neighbor,
then we also have
to forgive ourselves that much.
All right.
- Hey.
- Hi, guys.
Hi, Remy.
Do you remember Liam?
- Yeah.
- He's an actor, too.
He played Adam also. He was at the
birthday party, you switched with him.
- You remember him?
- Yeah.
Three, two, one go.
No, no!
Forgiving yourself
sounds so easy and nice.
Watch out.
But how does a person
actually do that?
- He called me Nathan when I came in.
- Yeah. Totally.
So, what do you think?
and he's kind of like, chill with it.
- Yeah, he gets it for sure.
- You think so?
- Yeah.
I think that he will be okay.
I do. I think he'll be okay.
How do you
convince yourself of that?
I didn't convince myself.
I'm just gonna make sure he's okay, so
he is and I just know.
Like I just know. Like,
I don't know how to explain it.
It's something you won't know
until you like have a kid if you do.
What did you see in his face
that makes you so sure?
Myself.
It's just one of those things,
I don't know, you just know.
No!
You strong, boy.
Could it ben that the path to forgiveness
lies in someone else's eyes?
Where'd you get that sweatshirt?
Buckle. Yeah.
- It's nice.
- Thank you.
Yep.
What's your name again?
Nathan.
- Nathan.
- Yeah.
He is crazy.
I just want to call you daddy.
- We're not going back to that.
- No, no, Nathan.
That doesn't worry you?
What just happened.
No. No.
Bye!
Bye. See you later.
- My TV friends are leaving.
- Yes, they are.
You may never be able
to change what happened.
But maybe with a new perspective,
you could try to change yourself.
- Did you get enough?
- Yeah, I think so.
Okay, good. Buckle up.
Remy?
eah, Mom.
you wanna record that
TV show audition now, baba?
- What do you think?
- Yeah.
Yeah? Okay. Come on.
Hi. I'm Remy. I live in Oregon.
And I have so many toys
that are in my room.
I have a Gru plushie.
That's our house there.
We're gonna be right there, huh?
Cool, huh?
- Hey, Amber.
- Hi.
- And you must be Remy.
- Yes.
We're so excited to have
you guys be a part of this.
Let me introduce you the director, right?
It's a very unique project.
- Okay.
- Come inside.
Do you guys have
Hungry Hungry Hippos?
We sure do.
We won't be sticking to a script.
Okay.
But of course,
anything that happens inside the home
will be sure to clear with you beforehand.
Okay, great.
Yeah, you're free to watch
everything here at the monitors.
- Thanks.
- Okay. Yeah.
- Yeah, I'll see you.
- So, how are you today, Adam?
- Good. I'm good.
Okay. What have you been doing?
Just tidying up your room?
He's kind of a weird dude, huh?
Can I get you some soda
or sparkling water?
- Oh, I'm okay.
- You sure?
- Thank you. Yeah, thank you.
- Okay.
Right. Well, let me know
if you need anything.
Sure, thank you so much.
Do I get to see Daddy tomorrow?
- You do. Does that sound good?
- Yeah.
You know he's your pretend daddy
though, right?
Not on your nose. No, no, no.
This is gonna hurt you.
Okay, you want some food?
Are you hungry?
- How was work today?
- Good. Just busy.
While you were at work today,
he kept asking to see his dad.
- Do you know what's that about?
- That's the TV show he's been doing.
- I told you about that, Mom.
- Oh, right.
Do you think he's a little young
to be getting into acting?
No, he's having a lot of fun.
I just worry
about him sometimes.
I love you, Daddy.
- What did you say?
- I love you, Daddy.
I love you too, Adam.
They said you're gonna have
a birthday party soon.
Is my daddy gonna be there?
Yeah, he's your pretend daddy, baba.
- Okay.
- Okay.
My pretend daddy loves me.
- Come on in. Let's go.
- Okay.
- What's wrong? You sad?
- You want a hug?
You want to give him a hug?
- No.
We gotta go, okay?
We can't stay here.
- It's okay.
You know Mommy has to go.
You give him a hug. Say goodbye.
No.
It's just complicated
because he's now seeing kids at school
and they have their dads
and he's kind of wondering
where's his.
it's just new to him.
New concept.
I get it.
I hope it's okay.
Yeah. Are you okay?
Yeah, yeah. I'm okay.
Okay.
But I don't want you to be Nathan.
- I want you to be daddy.
- Right.
But we are
just pretending, right?
And now, we're back
to Remy and Nathan, okay?
I want him to be daddy.
It's okay. It's okay.
He said
he wasn't my daddy anymore.
I'm sorry, baba. That must've been
very hard for you to hear.
Why did he say he was my daddy?
I know. That man didn't mean
to confuse you, honey.
He just didn't know
what he was doing.
He's not that different from you.
He's just figuring stuff out
and messing up along the way.
Maybe we shouldn't have done
that show, huh?
It's like a weird little weird thing
for a little kid to be a part of.
But you know what?
Mommy's not perfect, okay?
She makes mistakes too.
And you're gonna make mistakes.
Look at me, baba.
You know what.
I think it's a good thing
that you're sad.
Because it shows
that you have a heart.
It shows that you can feel
and you can love,
and you can put your trust in others.
Is that a smile I see?
Is that another thing
you're feeling there? A smile.
How do you feel
if tickle monster attacks you?
See,
life's better was surprises.
I mean, some things you want to be
prepared for, but you know what I mean.
Oh, no, you got me!
Tickle monster got me now.
What the heck?
That's weird.
But you know what?
It's okay if you get confused.
It's okay if you get sad
because no matter what you experience,
we have each other.
And I'm always gonna be here
for you, okay?
'Cause I'm your dad.
Wait, I thought you were my mom.
No.
I'm your dad.
Good boy. You wanna go play now?
- Yeah, let's go.
- Okay, let's go play.
Let's go.