Evanescence’s Amy Lee Reacts: How ‘Bring Me To Life’ Landed in HBO’s Wild ‘The Rehearsal’
When Amy Lee, the iconic frontwoman of Evanescence, got the call from HBO about using her band's smash hit "Bring Me To Life" in an episode of Nathan Fielder's bizarre comedy series, 'The Rehearsal', she was intrigued. Now, she’s calling Fielder a "genius" after seeing how the song was woven into the show's exploration of the 'Miracle on the Hudson'. But how did this unlikely pairing come to be, and what does Amy Lee think of the show's unique brand of awkwardness?
The specific episode, titled “Pilot’s Code,” delves into the story of Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who famously landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River in 2009 after a bird strike. Fielder's quest to understand Sully’s mindset leads him to a surprising discovery: Sully mentioned Evanescence more than any other band in his memoir, Highest Duty. According to Amy Lee, HBO gave her a rundown of the episode, but she still struggled to understand the concept of the show.
Fielder theorizes that Sully’s 23 seconds of silence on the black-box recording after the bird strike was him listening to the chorus of "Bring Me To Life" on his iPod, which also happens to be 23 seconds long. It's a wild theory – and Amy Lee thinks it's "totally possible".
“The show is so brilliant,” says Lee. “I started watching at the beginning of season two because of our placement, and I’m obsessed with it now.” She adds that the episode featuring her song “had the most awkwardness of anything I’ve seen so far leading up to it.”
'The Rehearsal' isn't just using the song for background music. The show builds to a climax where Fielder, portraying Sully, puts on headphones, closes his eyes, and listens to the song as the plane simulator descends toward the river. It's an absurd and touching moment that Amy Lee herself calls "really beautiful".
The HBO series blends documentary and comedy in a way that can be both hilarious and deeply unsettling. One GQ editor described it as "the TV event of the year, maybe of the decade".
According to Lee, the connection between Evanescence and the aviation community might stem from the vulnerability the band’s music allows. “We have a lot of fans among cops, firefighters, and the military, too, which in my mind is like, Well, they have to project strength too…but that doesn’t mean they’re not human. And if our music has been an outlet like that for people, I mean, it’s such an incredible reward,” she explains.
Ultimately, Amy Lee finds the show thought-provoking, unique, and even a little therapeutic. "It's almost like a battle against anxiety," she explains, because it gives one the opportunity to rehearse their reactions to tough situations.
What do you think of the strange and beautiful relationship between Evanescence, 'The Rehearsal', and the legend of Sully Sullenberger? Share your thoughts in the comments below!