Shark Week 2020 | 'Will Smith: Off the Deep End' Preview: Can the action-hero conquer his fear from 'Jaws' days?
Rapper, actor and producer Will Smith is known for battling scary aliens, villains, and gangsters in his movies, but the 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' has admitted of one fear he has in real life, and that is of sharks and the ocean. As part of Discovery Channel's Shark Week 2020 lineup, one of the specials features the 'Men in Black' actor faces his fears of the deep waters and sharks. Titled, 'Will Smith: Off the Deep End', the description for the Discovery special simply states, "Will Smith is diving headfirst into the action, excitement, and shark-infested waters, as he confronts his fear of the open seas and the open jaws of nature’s fiercest predators."
Will Smith has been open about his fear of the open waters and shark before. As someone who grew up in the "Jaws Generation," Smith probably had the fear instilled in him by Steven Spielberg's film, 'Jaws' which came out in 1975. In 'Jaws', the star of the film is a Great White shark, which had since been vilified as many took to the oceans to hunt the predators for the game of it.
Smith first tried to conquer his fears in an episode of his Facebook Watch show, 'Bucket List', which saw him going to the Bahamas to scuba dive with 13-foot tiger sharks. However, that was not his original plan. Smith had initially intended to conquer his fear while in a cage so that he had a safety barrier between him and the ocean predators. After consulting with experts and learning about how sharks help ocean ecosystems and are docile when not threatened, Smith and his friends boarded a boat out to the ocean where they immediately encountered over a dozen small lemon sharks surrounding the boat.
Smith was then told that he had to jump through the smaller sharks swimming at the top in order to sick to the bottom of the ocean where he’ll find the bigger sharks -- something that unnerved him. He even said, "I legitimately do not feel good about this. I'm an action hero and a movie star, this is my action-hero scared face."
Smith may have conquered his fears then, but with 'Will Smith: Off the Deep End' we are set to see the 'Independence Day' star tackle his fears in a much more detailed space. While details of the special have been kept under wraps, we are sure that the special will be an enticing watch.
What is funny is that Smith once played a character who feared sharks and fooled other characters into thinking he was a "Sharkslayer" when he wanted to earn some prominence. This was in the 2004 animated film, 'Shark Tale', which also starred Renee Zellweger, Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, and Robert De Niro. While we don't think Smith will end up "slaying sharks" like his character, we are certain his time with the sharks will help raise awareness about the creatures.
'Will Smith: Off the Deep End' will air on Discovery Channel on Tuesday, August 11, at 9/8c. Watch Smith's adventure with sharks in 'Bucket List' below.