Will Smith swims with tiger shark to conquer his fear of the ocean
Discovery’s “Shark Week” continued its fin-tastic programming with the special "Will Smith: Off the Deep End." In the special, Will Smith addresses his fear of sharks and attempts to overcome it by diving with some of the largest ocean predators on earth.
Video Transcript
[SWISH]
WILL SMITH: I'm terrified of the ocean. And the center of that terror is the sharks that are swimming in that ocean.
- A-list actor Will Smith may have once played a shark's best friend in the movie "Shark Tale," but as he revealed during the shark week special, "Will Smith Off The Deep End," he's actually terrified of sharks.
WILL SMITH: I blame Steven Spielberg. I was literally scared in the bathtub. I literally felt like a shark could come out of the spout.
[SPLASHING WATER]
After I saw "Jaws," I was like, oh, man, I might not never even take a bath again. We done. We done with water.
- Will's fear of water kept him from learning how to swim until he was in his 40s. But once he learned, he decided to conquer his fear of sharks by diving with a massive tiger shark.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
WILL SMITH: And I'm going to cleanse mine.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- Viewers love seeing the actor conquer his fears with one person tweeting, This Will Smith special on Shark Week should absolutely be required watching for everyone. Funny, smart, spiritual, and sharks. In fact, the moment was so special that Will admitted it fundamentally changed him as a person.
WILL SMITH: There was Will Smith before the sharks. And there was Will Smith after the sharks. Conquering the worst monster that exists in life, it's always you. Your mind is the worst monster you will ever have to fight.
[SWISH]
