Will Smith explores planet Earth in new 'Welcome to Earth' series from Disney Plus, Nat Geo (exclusive clip)

Will Smith is in for a wild ride. 

Today (Dec. 8), National Geographic's new series "Welcome to Earth" drops on Disney Plus, showcasing Academy Award-nominated actor Will Smith in his latest role: explorer. In the series, Smith teams up with different scientists and explorers who take on incredible, nail-biting adventures across the globe. The six-episode limited series does a masterful job highlighting the awe-inspiring natural beauty of planet Earth. 

"It was like nothing I've ever really experienced before, and I've been pretty much all over the world," scientist and National Geographic explorer Albert Lin, one of the few explorers who star alongside Smith in the series, told Space.com about the views of our planet shown in "Welcome to Earth."

You can watch an exclusive clip of "Welcome to Earth" with Will Smith above, courtesy of National Geographic and Disney Plus.

The series shows a wide variety of remote, even dangerous corners of the planet, "from volcanoes that roar in silence to deserts that move beyond our perception to animal swarms with minds of their own," according to Disney Plus.

Lin, as well as Diva Amon, a marine biologist and Nat Geo emerging explorer and Dwayne Fields, a Nat Geo explorer, who are also featured alongside Smith in the series, shared with Space.com just how real the explorations filmed for "Welcome to Earth" really were. 

"We trained a lot," Lin said. While they trekked out into the wild with "the best teams in the world," Lin said, "nature is nature and you're humbled by it all the time."

"I remember there was a moment, we're trying to descend 400 feet [122 meters] into this massive cave; it's just an area of descent, you're just really hanging on the thread or rope," Lin said. "Then we're going to scuba dive down into this bottomless pit."

Will Smith (left) descends into a volcano alongside volcanologist Jeff Johnson (middle) and explorer Erik Weihenmayer (right).  (Image credit: National Geographic for Disney+/Kyle Christy)

Without giving too much away, Lin's description is really just the tip of the iceberg of the thrilling action and majestic, natural wonder that unfolds before your eyes in "Welcome to Earth."  

"Welcome to Earth" is produced by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, Protozoa Pictures, Jane Root’s Nutopia and Westbrook Studios.

Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd@space.com or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Chelsea Gohd
Senior Writer

Chelsea “Foxanne” Gohd joined Space.com in 2018 and is now a Senior Writer, writing about everything from climate change to planetary science and human spaceflight in both articles and on-camera in videos. With a degree in Public Health and biological sciences, Chelsea has written and worked for institutions including the American Museum of Natural History, Scientific American, Discover Magazine Blog, Astronomy Magazine and Live Science. When not writing, editing or filming something space-y, Chelsea "Foxanne" Gohd is writing music and performing as Foxanne, even launching a song to space in 2021 with Inspiration4. You can follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd and @foxannemusic.