Bear Grylls on ‘Running Wild’ With Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch & More Celebs
Q&A
We caught up with survivalist Bear Grylls just days before his 49th birthday, which he planned to spend with his wife and three boys on an Alaskan mini-adventure. Filled with gratitude — “I’m super lucky to be alive. I look back and think, gosh, I should have died so many times over, moments caught in rapids, parachute failures, avalanches, you name it” — he answered a few of our questions about the latest season of his celebrities-in-the-wild series, Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge.
As you get older, is it harder to push yourself on these adventures?
Bear Grylls: Yes — but hard isn’t bad. Hard is a challenge. We’ve always got to try to rise up to meet that. I do a lot more stretching now, but in many ways I’m fitter than I have been for years.
(Credit: National Geographic for Disney/Ben Simms)
You’ve got quite the lineup of stars venturing out with you: Russell Brand in Scotland’s Hebrides islands, Tatiana Maslany in Wyoming’s Laramie Mountains, Cynthia Erivo in Wales’ Brecon Beacons mountains.… In the premiere, you and Bradley Cooper spend the night on a cliff in the Wyoming Basin!
We had loads of fun — a good meeting of minds. He was courageous, kind, humble, and brilliant. We had tough conditions — Wyoming in winter is not for the faint of heart. He got both barrels of Running Wild, but he was in it and totally committed.
Benedict Cumberbatch joins you July 16 to take on the Isle of Skye’s huge sea cliffs and freezing waterfalls. How did he fare?
It’s always a pleasure to do these journeys with a fellow Brit — we laughed a lot. Northern Scotland in winter was brutal, [but the show] was on his bucket list, and he was super impressive throughout. I asked a favor of the Royal Navy, and they sent a nuclear submarine to meet us off the coast for our extraction. Benedict’s grandfather had been a submariner during the war; there was a lot of emotion for him.
What caused you the greatest amount of stress?
I think trying to meet the submarine on time. We’re on this kayak miles off the coast, I’m looking at my GPS praying I’ve got my latitude and longitude coordinates right and that we’re going to turn up [at the submarine] on cue. That was probably one of the most special moments ever filming for me.
Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge, Season Premiere, Sunday, July 9, 9/8c, National Geographic
