Will Smith’s quest to become one with nature almost ended very, very badly.
“We did a dive under the ice… and the ice can be up to a 10 feet thing,” Will explained to Jimmy. Once he heard, “Abort dive,” coming from above the ice, though, he knew things had gone left.
“I pulled the tether, and I accidentally pulled my mask off,” Will continued. The panic was definitely on as he ascended with the diving expert, but could only feel a massive block of ice above him. “If I get out of here, I’m only gonna do Black stuff from here on out,” he joked.
Will’s entire trek took him pole to pole, literally. The series begins with him climbing an ice wall (in the midst of an ice storm— in Antartica!). In later episodes, he collects venom with a scientist for potential human medical benefits in the Amazon, and goes on the pursuit of happiness by jumping off a cliff in The Himalayas.
And, as advertised, Will does his own stunts. On The Tonight Show he joked about having no stuntman, but he made it clear throughout the series that he wanted to push himself to his physical and mental limits to discover the meaning of life after tremendous success, and a very public fall from grace.
Thankfully, Will made it home safe and sound, and lived to tell about his exciting — and at times, terrifying — journey. But he wasn’t completely off the hook from creepy crawlies, which he admitted is his greatest fear. Jimmy had a boa constrictor on hand — Tonight Show antics, right? — that he challenged Will to hold for 30 seconds. Of course, he aced that because the man survived being trapped under ice in the middle of The. North. Pole!
As a nature doc fan, Will Smith’s Pole to Pole is definitely worth the watch. Although it’s fun to see him be a real-life superhero, I personally loved hearing the back stories of the explorers and scientists of color who are truly doing the hero’s work to protect the climate and further understand our environment.
Are any of Will Smith’s great adventures on your bucket list? Shout them out in the comments!