Will Smith‘s life-altering experiences in his new docuseries, Pole to Pole with Will Smith, weren’t just about witnessing the Earth’s marvels.

“The biggest psychological and emotional revelation was how important it is to be able to face fear. Like how destructive fear is to being able to enjoy life, you know?” Smith told Blavity/Shadow and Act’s Managing Editor, Trey Mangum. “The practice of venturing into the unknown for me, the ability to be with yourself when your mind is storming, is critical to be able to see beauty. In a relationship, if you’re scared, you can’t even love somebody if you’re scared, right? So to me, it was a daily practice of leaning into the places of my deepest existential horror in order to ultimately reveal myself to myself.”

Smith’s penchant for travel is one thing that helped him when facing his fears in new (and dangerous) locales.

“First and foremost, I love travel, so I love moving around the world. I love meeting new people,” he said. “And this particular show came up at a time in my life where I needed to journey. So it became more than about travel. It was sort of an outward exploration in order to force an inward exploration.”

“We went [to] seven continents and, and 10 countries and meeting people who live in the most extreme environments on earth,” he continued. “And, you know, while it was a fun kind of scientific exploration, it really turned into a deep human, spiritual search.”

Pole to Pole with Will Smith, which took five years to create, follows Smith as he traverses some of the globe’s most beautiful and harrowing places.

Here’s more about the seven-part docuseries:

Inspired by his late mentor to explore life’s big questions, Will throws himself into incredible challenges for 100 days: skiing to the South Pole, catching a giant anaconda, milking a venomous tarantula, climbing mountains, and diving under the ice of the North Pole. He will venture from pole to pole in the company of scientists, explorers and local experts.

Pole to Pole with Will Smith is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu, via National Geographic. Watch the full interview above.

Pole to Pole with Will Smith

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