Will Smith recalls almost dying in Arctic dive filming Disney+ series Pole to Pole

Will Smith narrowly escaped death while scuba diving under Arctic ice for his Disney+ series. Photo / Supplied

Will Smith narrowly dodged death while scuba diving in the Arctic as part of his Disney+ travel series.

Minutes into the 57-year-old actor’s underwater adventure under thick ice, an emergency abort forced him to ascend into solid ice, and he accidentally pulled off his mask.

Smith recalled the terrifying incident that happened while filming Pole to Pole on a recent episode of NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

He told the 51-year-old host: “We went scuba diving at the North Pole. So we did a dive under the ice. So you go under the ice, and the ice can be up to 10-feet [304cm] thick. So we’re under, we went out about 40 yards (36.5m) away … It’s like an upside-down ice mountain range.

“We went under, and I start hearing, ‘abort dive! Abort dive! Abort!’ And I’m like, ‘oh no’.

“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 grab your tether and pull yourself back to the hole. I grabbed and accidentally pulled my mask off.”

Amid oxygen loss, Smith immediately put the mask back on his face, and he tried his best to calm himself down.

He continued: “I was like, ‘oh no. Will, calm down’.”

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum then joked: “And I was like, ‘if I get out of here, I’m only going to do black stuff from here on out’. I promise, Lord! African American behaviour from here on out!”

Amid calming his nerves, Smith felt someone grab “my tether up top and started pulling” him to safety.

He added: “And when I realised 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. And I was just like, ‘whoever’s up there, don’t let go of my tether’!”

After reliving the “rough” and deadly experience, Smith then told Fallon about the time he hunted for anaconda while in the Amazon for his Disney+ travel series.

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The Men in Black star recalled: “We were with the natives, and they didn’t even have no clothes on, their whole name and address was hanging out.

“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.”

Will noted that the task was part of a “conservation” initiative.

He said: “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. So they would take a scale from the anaconda and test it to be able to use it in court.

“It was really wild. I don’t know why they needed me!”