Will Smith is recounting a frightening near-death moment that occurred while filming his Disney+ travel series, “Pole to Pole With Will Smith.”
The 57-year-old Oscar-Winning actor shared the experience during an appearance on “The Tonight Show,” revealing that the incident happened while he was scuba diving beneath Arctic ice.
Scuba Diving Beneath Arctic Ice Turns Dangerous
However, the dive quickly turned dangerous, with ice overhead measuring up to 10 feet thick.
“We went scuba diving at the North Pole, right? So we did a dive under the ice,” Smith shared. “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?”
‘Abort Dive!’ Panic Sets In Under the Ice
Just minutes into the dive, Smith sensed something was off. He said he suddenly heard urgent warnings through his equipment.
“We went under, and I start hearing, ‘Abort dive! Abort dive! Abort!’” he said.
As he attempted to ascend, he hit solid ice above him. Panic quickly followed. “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.’”
Smith said divers are secured to a safety line and have to guide themselves back to the opening in the ice. Amid the confusion, he made a split-second error.
Getty“You have a tether on, and you have to pull yourself back to the hole, right? I grabbed and accidentally pulled my mask off.”
A Close Call Turns Spiritual
Smith quickly resecured his mask and focused on steadying his breath. He later joked that the scare prompted him to make an immediate vow to change his ways.
“I was like, ‘If I get out of here, I’m only gonna do Black stuff from here on out,’” he said. “I promise Lord! African American behavior from here on out!”
As he calmed himself, Smith felt someone above the surface take hold of his tether and pull him to safety. Once the immediate danger passed, the moment transformed.
“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!’”
From Arctic Ice to Amazon Wildlife
The Arctic dive was not the only dangerous moment Smith encountered while filming the series. He also described a tense experience in the Amazon rainforest while accompanying local guides on a search for 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.”
Smith explained that the effort was tied to conservation work focused on uncovering illegal dumping in the area. “They had a sense that there was some kind of illegal dumping going on, and the scales of the anaconda, they hold whatever’s in the water,” he said.
“So they would take a scale from the anaconda and test it to be able to use it in court.”
Still, Smith added with humor, “I don’t know why they needed me!”
“Pole to Pole With Will Smith” follows the actor through extreme landscapes and cultures, but as these moments show, some experiences pushed well beyond adventure and into real danger.
You can start streaming the series on Hulu here.
