There’s nothing like a brush with death to provide you with a sense of perspective, especially if the incident almost involves an icy grave at the bottom of the North Pole. While visiting The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Bad Boys and Men in Black actor Will Smith said he almost died while diving in the Arctic as part of his new Disney+ travel series, Pole to Pole With Will Smith.
Will Smith finds new meaning after near-drowning experience
“We went scuba diving at the North Pole, right? So we did a dive under the ice,” Smith informed Fallon. “So you go under the ice, and the ice can be up to 10 feet thick. So we’re under, we went out about 40 yards away… It’s like an upside-down ice mountain range, right?” Sounds innocent enough. Plus, if you’re diving with professionals, everything should be right as rain. Well, not necessarily.
“We went under, and I start hearing, ‘Abort dive! Abort dive! Abort!’” Smith recalled. “And I’m like, ‘Oh no,’ right? So I went to ascend and hit ice. I was like, ‘Oh no, Will, calm down. Calm down.’ You have a tether on, and you have to pull yourself back to the hole, right? I grabbed and accidentally pulled my mask off.” Holy shit! No, thank you! This situation is one of many reasons you’ll never catch my ass diving. Snorkeling? Fine. Diving? In the Arctic? Hell no!
While recalling the terrifying incident, Smith says he tried his damndest to put his mask back on, doing his best to stay calm. “I was like, ‘If I get out of here, I’m only gonna do Black stuff from here on out,’” he joked. “I promise Lord! African American behavior from here on out!” Haha! No more code-switching for Will Smith, folks.
“When I realized I was good, I just relaxed and I looked around and when I tell you, the sun is coming through the ice and it went from terror to the most spiritual, beautiful thing,” he said. “And I was just like, ‘Whoever’s up there, don’t let go of my tether!’”
My anaconda don’t want none
Talk about living life on the edge! Damn! According to Smith, the near-drowning incident wasn’t the only time he felt himself “pucker up” while filming the new series. Apparently, while in the Amazon, there was an altercation with an anaconda!
“We were with the natives, and they didn’t even have no clothes on, their whole name and address was hanging out,” Smith said. “And so we’re going down the river, and they see the anaconda and jump out of the boat into the water and swim for the anaconda.”
Diving under ice? Naked anaconda wrestling? At 57 years old, Will Smith certainly is tempting the fates. We’re glad he and the rest of the crew are okay after such a pulse-pounding adventure. I do enjoy nature programs, but I’ll be damned if you ever find me mucking around with nature. There are some places humankind has no business being, and my place is firmly in this computer chair, bringing you fine folks the news. I’ll leave the anaconda encounters to the professionals.
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Source:
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
