Actor Will Smith is on a roll this season, with so many projects under his belt. One that is sure to leave people on the edge of their seats is the upcoming NatGeo multi-part series that Smith will embark upon filled with adventures of which he says he could have only dreamed. Previously, for his 50th birthday, Smith went skydiving at about 14,000 feet. Smith has said that this experience was “the most blissful experience of his life because he was flying.” He also added that “God placed the best things in life on the other side of fear.” This NatGeo series on Disney + presents more fascinating and life-altering situations, while testing Smith’s faith and yearning for even greater adventures.
It might seem humans have mapped every inch of our planet’s surface, but look closer and you’ll discover that there is still so much more to uncover — the age of exploration is far from over! “Welcome to Earth,” a Disney+ original series from National Geographic, follows two-time Academy Award® nominee Will Smith on an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime adventure around the world to explore Earth’s greatest wonders and reveal its most hidden secrets.
Throughout the six-part limited series, which premieres on December 8, Smith is guided by elite explorers on an awe-inspiring journey, getting up close and personal with some of the most thrilling spectacles on the planet — from volcanoes that roar in silence to deserts that move beyond our perception to animal swarms with minds of their own. Combining breathtaking cinematography with Will’s boundless curiosity and enthusiasm, the blockbuster series is an exciting, multi-sensory ride through Earth’s most mind-bending portals.
“I’m throwing myself into the unknown,” Smith says in the trailer. “There’s a new breed of explorers taking me to the ends of the Earth to discover hidden worlds that sit beyond our senses. Once you decode the mysteries, you can find crucial information about the world around us.”
“The Silent Roar,” “Descent Into Darkness,” “Mind of the Swarm,” “Power of Scent” and “Speed of Life” are the topics for the first five episodes.
The final episode is titled “Beyond Fear.” For Smith’s final journey, he is faced with the ultimate challenge. He and polar explorer Dwayne Fields are dropped by helicopter in the middle of an Icelandic glacier. Smith’s mission is to draw on everything he’s learned from the five previous expeditions about what it means to be an explorer to overcome his fear and anxieties of the wilderness.
By learning how to read nature’s clues, Smith slowly gains an understanding of the environment around him, allowing him to embrace his fear and take the reins on a powerful and unpredictable stretch of white-water rapids. Smith discovers that uncertainty and confusion are not obstacles to exploration but rather a vital part of every explorer’s experience when throwing themselves into the unknown.
“I’m really confronting all of the things I’m scared of, and I’m really finding this exuberant freedom,” Smith has previously told Ellen DeGeneres. And with “Welcome to Earth,” Smith does just that!
More on Fields – Polar Expeditionist: Born in Jamaica, Fields grew up in the U.K. from the age of 6. He has been the victim of both knife and gun crime, and as a result of his experiences with gangs, he decided to change his life. He became an adventurer and explorer, completed a combined honors degree in Psychology, International Development and Business Management and spent three years as an electrical and mechanical engineer for the London Underground before following his passion and raising funds to reach the magnetic North Pole.
Fields was the first Black Briton to achieve this feat, and later that year, he was also named Choice FM’s Role Model of the Year. On his return, he was invited to Buckingham Palace for a reception to mark the centenary of Robert Falcon Scott’s expedition to the South Pole in the presence of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.
Since then, he has dedicated his life to helping urban youth by focusing on outdoor activities, such as walking and climbing. As a result, Fields has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London by its Lord Mayor. He is a dedicated ambassador for the Scout Association, the National Trust and the Woodland Trust.
At the end of 2019, Fields, with his expedition partner, went on a mission to engage young people to seek epic adventures and highlight environmental issues close to home while turning the spotlight on wildlife conservation efforts. They embarked on the Seabirds to South adventure, an expedition from the northernmost to the southernmost points of mainland Britain. Their next project is to take a group of underprivileged young people to Antarctica in 2022 on a specially chartered expedition ship through their #WeTwo Foundation.
During a visit to Chicago last month, Smith told ABC7 Chicago: “They managed to terrify me every, single episode. I think that is part of the plan that they had. I told them that I wanted to do things that people had never done before, and NatGeo, for sure, delivered.”
Take a look at the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0MTCXgil1M and check out Stream Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, National Geographic | Disney+ (disneyplus.com) for more information.
Elaine Hegwood Bowen, M.S.J., is the Entertainment Editor for the Chicago Crusader. She is a National Newspaper Publishers Association ‘Entertainment Writing’ award winner, contributor to “Rust Belt Chicago” and the author of “Old School Adventures from Englewood: South Side of Chicago.” For info, Old School Adventures from Englewood—South Side of Chicago (lulu.com) or email: [email protected].
