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Nathan Fielder holds his own opposite Emma Stone in The Curse, at least on the reading that most of the reviews support. Whether he does is a critical judgment, not a measurable fact. The case rests on one idea: Fielder’s awkward, inscrutable Asher is an active dramatic counterweight to Stone’s Whitney, not a passive foil. The friction between the two performances generates much of the show’s comedy and much of its unease.
What The Curse is
The Curse is a 2023 series created by Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie. Stone, Fielder and Safdie star. It follows Whitney and Asher Siegel, newlyweds trying to bring eco-conscious housing to Española, New Mexico. Their project becomes entangled with a reality-television producer who sees an opportunity in their story.
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The series was announced as a 10-episode premiere on Paramount+ with the SHOWTIME plan for November 10, 2023, ahead of its linear debut on SHOWTIME. That is original release context. It does not establish where the series can be streamed today.
Why “holding his own” is a judgment call
Stone is the more conventionally expressive performer, and Fielder’s screen persona is built on deadpan discomfort. A claim that he matches her therefore depends on how you read his restraint. If you take it as a limitation, he is outclassed. If you take it as a deliberate choice, the performance is doing a different job, and the reviews cited here lean toward the second reading.
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The reviews also split their emphasis. ABC News praises Stone’s performance and says Fielder executes the role written for him flawlessly. That is a compliment to the fit between writer, actor and part. TIME goes further and credits Fielder’s presence with helping the show build suspense. Read together, the reviews support the claim that he is a functional and purposeful counterweight. They do not show that his performance is equal to Stone’s in every register.
Two performance toolkits
Asher and Whitney are written as opposites. The reviews describe Asher as awkward, socially inept and affectless, and Whitney as skilled at managing her public image and more outwardly expressive. Comparing the tools each actor brings is more useful than ranking them.
Rank #2
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| Dimension | Nathan Fielder as Asher | Emma Stone as Whitney |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline register | Stiff and affectless, as the reviews describe Asher | Easy and outwardly expressive |
| Main performance tools | Restraint, discomfort and pauses | Facial reactions and expressiveness |
| Public and private selves | Inscrutability keeps the character’s inner state unreadable | Shifts between a private self and a public-facing persona (ABC News) |
| Effect in scenes | Comic friction with Stone’s ease (TIME) | Makes the gap between Whitney’s surface and her reactions visible (ABC News) |
| Role in the show’s shift | Helps move the show from satire toward suspense (TIME) | Gives the audience a readable surface to measure that suspense against (interpretation) |
How the contrast works on screen
Comic friction
TIME argues that the mismatch between Fielder’s stiffness and Stone’s ease produces physical comedy. The joke is in the distance between bodies that do not coordinate. Stone’s comfort makes Fielder’s awkwardness look like an exposed nerve rather than a shtick, and that gap is where many of the laughs come from.
The turn toward suspense
The more consequential claim is that Fielder’s inscrutable presence helps the series shift from satire toward suspense. Satire needs a target the audience can laugh at. Suspense needs a character whose intentions are unclear. A performer who gives little away makes the second mode possible without abandoning the first.
Rank #3
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Why the shift needs both performers
This is an interpretation rather than a quotation from the reviews. Stone’s ease keeps Whitney’s public surface credible, so when the premise curdles, the change is visible in her reactions. Fielder’s blankness gives that change nowhere to rest. Without a convincing surface, Asher’s stillness would read as mere dullness. Without the stillness, Whitney’s reactions would have less to push against.
Themes the reviews identify
ABC News connects the performances to a wider satire of performative virtue, gentrification, race and class privilege, environmentalism, and the exploitation of subjects by reality television. The eco-conscious housing project is the vehicle for all of these. Asher and Whitney are useful to the show because their public commitments and private behavior can be compared, and the comedy depends on that comparison.
Reception snapshot
The Associated Press reported that, in a January 2024 snapshot on Rotten Tomatoes, The Curse had 94% critic approval and 35% audience approval. Those are historical figures from a single snapshot, not current scores. The gap suggests that critics and general viewers responded differently, but a score cannot explain why.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Stone on joining, and Fielder on the everyday
According to the Associated Press, Stone had watched every episode of Nathan for You and agreed to join The Curse before she knew its premise, because she wanted to work with Fielder. Her account of the project’s appeal is worth reading in full:
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“A surrealistic experience I think has been interesting to me for a long time. ‘Birdman’ was sort of that way. ‘La La Land’ was sort of that way. There’s an element of fantastical in the midst of a sort of groundedness that I find really intriguing. ‘The Curse’ definitely does live in that world.” (Emma Stone, as reported by the Associated Press)
Fielder, for his part, placed the series within his longstanding interest in the discomfort and absurdity of everyday life: “I feel like if you filmed anyone’s life, it would look a lot like the show.” (Nathan Fielder, as reported by the Associated Press)
Where to watch, and what remains open
The original streaming destination was Paramount+ with the SHOWTIME plan. Current availability varies by country and changes over time, and the sources behind this piece do not confirm which services carry the series today. Check your country’s current catalog before relying on any service. Current Rotten Tomatoes scores and regional rights are also outside what can be confirmed here.
Verdict
Fielder holds his own in the sense that matters for this series: his performance is not a weak point in an otherwise strong show. Stone’s ease gives The Curse its surface, and Fielder’s restraint gives it its unease. The reviews agree that the pairing works, even where they disagree about which performer carries more of the weight.
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