“If I Get Out Of Here, I’m Only Gonna Do Black Stuff From Here On Out": Will Smith Had A Near Death Experience, And Thankfully Lived To Tell About It
by Jada Gomez · BuzzFeedPosted 6 hours ago
Will Smith's quest to become one with nature almost ended very, very badly.
On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Will explained how close he came to death scuba diving under ice at the North Pole, while filming the final episode of his new National Geographic nature series, Pole to Pole with Will Smith.
"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!
Mission accomplished.