[intense music]
ELIZABETH: I'm Elizabeth Banks,
I'm in Norway,
and I'm gonna be
Running Wild With Bear Grylls.
- Whoo!
- [echoing]
I have no idea
what's about to happen...
[exhales] ...but I'm excited.
I think when you push
through really hard things,
oftentimes there's
really beautiful things
on the other side.
I just wanna tell my kids
to just be brave.
Say yes to things,
because you get one great life,
so make the most of it.
Watch Mom go.
I mean, what's the worst
that can happen? [laughs]
Ahh! I'm on a mountaintop.
But where's Bear? [laughs]
Where's Bear?
♪♪♪♪♪
♪♪♪♪♪
This is Running Wild.
Bear left me some things
in the backpack.
Oh, my gosh, what is this? No!
Oh, it smells like chum.
This is gonna bring animals
to me, I can sense it already.
Okay, what else? I think this
is gonna be, like, carabiners.
Is that even how you say that?
I don't have any.
Yep. Oh, no.
That's not what this is.
I have no idea
what these are called.
What are these called?
Uh, snowshoes?
No, these are stronger than
snowshoes. I've worn snowshoes,
they don't have spikes
like this. Look at this.
Let's go. You get one life.
BEAR: Elizabeth Banks
does it all.
Liar. [laughs]
BEAR: Actor, producer, director.
ELIZABETH: No one's ever seen
a bear that's high on cocaine.
It's everything and more.
[bear snarling]
BEAR: She has left her
recognizable mark on everything
from Hollywood blockbusters...
I'm rescuing you, sir.
- BEAR: ...to indie gems...
- What's your name?
PHOTOGRAPHER: Right here,
Elizabeth!
BEAR: ...mastering her craft
both in front
and behind the camera.
Cut! Perfect.
BEAR: She's sharp, fearless...
- Later!
- BEAR: ...and funny.
What am I supposed to do
with that? Wear it as a crown?
BEAR: A true multi-talent
who refuses to be boxed in.
I'm sorry. [laughs]
BEAR: But out here, none of that
guarantees survival.
Happy Hunger Games.
BEAR: It will take every bit
of courage and creativity
to make it through
this freezing terrain.
Are you joking?
It's gonna be epic.
Let's go hard, Bear.
Let's go hard.
Let's get to the other side.
He's literally
hanging out of it.
What have I done?
I knew he'd make
a grand entrance.
Hi.
[cheering]
All right, let's do it.
♪♪♪♪♪
[screams]
No! [laughing]
Whoo!
Oh!
- Oh!
- BEAR: Don't look down.
♪♪♪♪♪
You okay?
ELIZABETH: Where are we landing?
What?
[Elizabeth whimpers]
Bye.
Wow.
Okay.
Wow, that was really fun.
I directed this film
called Cocaine Bear
and it's about
a completely unpredictable bear
who's high on cocaine,
which I know Bear is not,
but he is unpredictable.
- Feeling good?
- Intense way to start.
I'm still catching my breath.
Yeah, okay.
Lord knows
what's about to happen.
There you go.
First proper view...
- This is unreal.
- ...of that glacier as well.
This is all glacial moraine.
All of this is
just shaped by ice.
I mean, there's a huge
waterfall right there.
This is all melting, right?
BEAR: All of these glaciers here
in Norway are receding so much.
I feel very lucky
that we get to be here
in this place
while it's still here.
BEAR: I go to
a lot of remote places,
but actually, up here in Norway,
you've just got nobody.
I was saying this earlier.
There are no people here.
BEAR: It's quite rare
to look 360
and there's no tracks or roads.
It's pretty cool.
Elizabeth and I
will be traveling
deep into Norway's
glacial wilderness,
a frigid,
ever-shifting landscape.
We'll begin our adventure
alongside steep,
ice-carved cliffs,
eventually making our way down
into the remains
of a newly exposed
glacial boulder field
before stepping out
and on to the massive
moving glacier itself.
We'll then have to cross
a melting maze of blue ice
and deadly crevasses
before we make a final push,
kayaking miles across
a near-freezing meltwater lake
to reach our extraction point.
This journey won't be
for the faint-hearted.
Watch out for wet rock.
All this will get
really slippery.
ELIZABETH: Rock climbing, this
is my kids', like, favorite.
I mean,
you're an outdoorsy girl.
I'm outdoorsy, yeah.
I grew up--
I had to walk through the woods
- just to even go to school.
- Yeah.
I tell my kids that too,
like, "Let's go be in nature."
Do you feel like
an A-list movie star at home?
Is anybody an A-lister
in their own house?
- No.
- I get the same. It's like,
"Dad, all you do is
make teepees in the woods."
Something that Bear and I
are really connecting on today
is our kids and
their lack of respect for us.
They're meant to keep us humble.
- They do.
- You know?
This mountain is another thing
- keeping me humble.
- Yeah.
Okay, I'm going hat on.
BEAR: Wow, look.
Come and have a look at that.
- Look at that. [gasps]
- We've got a big drop off here.
ELIZABETH: Look at that.
That is so cool.
BEAR: We're gonna drop down.
We wanna hit the glacier.
What do you wanna tie off to?
Wait,
what are you talking about?
Wait, are we going right here?
We've got to get
down there, yeah.
Hold on. Hold on.
Uh...
BEAR: We just need
something to tie off.
Let's go off that one.
Down to that big boulder.
- Uh...
- Let's set this up.
- Come with me.
- What do you--
- Does this move?
- Let's see if that's solid.
I feel like it's not solid.
We ended up at this ledge.
We need to go to the glacier.
So apparently we now
have to go over the ledge.
- This is for your kids.
- Okay.
If you have
to tie around a boulder
before going off a cliff.
I don't know if
the choice of that boulder
was the greatest choice.
It's moving. I don't like it.
BEAR: That's 'cause
you're pulling up.
- Pull it along and down.
- Okay, okay.
- That's not moving.
- All right, I'll trust it.
He's got me convinced
about some sort of physics.
And I wasn't good at physics,
so I'm gonna trust him on that.
The main thing I learned
about bears making Cocaine Bear
is if it's black, fight back,
and if it's brown, lay down.
None of that's gonna save you
if the bear's crazy. [laughs]
So a nice wide stance,
that's the key.
And then never
taking the hand off that.
Even if you slide and you slip,
don't ever go, "Ah!"
'Cause then you'll be gone.
So even if you're upside-down,
this hand never comes off.
- Yeah?
- Right.
This is tricky terrain
to do this.
Definitely wanna
be mindful of that.
Now, Elizabeth has
never done a rappel
of this size or any size before.
So it's kind of
into the deep end.
[exhales]
Now it gets easier 'cause
we're over that awkward bit.
ELIZABETH: Yeah, but then
there's another awkward bit.
You'll be good.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Then there's jumping.
He's gone. I can't even see him.
He just left me here. [laughs]
I feel like Bear has
a lot of trust in--
uh, in actors,
and, like, people who've
never done adventuring before.
We're pretending!
We don't do it for real.
This is what
the stunt people are for.
Okay, Elizabeth, I'm down.
In your own time.
- You got it.
- Okay.
Great.
So I guess I gotta go.
[sighs] Okay, so lean back.
Wide stance. That's it, right?
He said the hardest part
is just going over.
He's not wrong, 'cause
I have no desire to go over.
Um...
[exhales] I said yes.
Here's what I know.
Um, ready is not a feeling,
it's a decision.
So you gotta decide to be ready.
And I'm deciding that I'm ready.
Let's go.
I'm ready. We're going over.
Always nervous when...
somebody does this for the first
time, especially like this,
into the deep end on
such a committing rock face.
This is the edge. Come here.
[breathing deeply]
The edge is a decision.
[dramatic music]
[bleep]. [bleep].
[grunting]
Slips are always part of it.
Okay. I'm over the ledge!
BEAR: Very good.
You're over the awkward bit.
Great job, Elizabeth.
There's a whole other ledge.
Where do my feet-- [screams]
[tense music]
[bleep].
Where do my feet-- [screams]
[bleep].
BEAR: Keep hold of that
brake hand. Well done.
I got it, I got it, I got it.
I did it.
Yeah, get 'em wide.
Take your time.
Lean back. Trust the rope.
Holy [bleep]. I'm okay.
[panting] Okay.
Hold on. You got this.
I gotta get
these feet wide again.
Here we go.
The more you lean back,
the easier it is.
♪♪♪♪♪
ELIZABETH: Okay.
Hold on.
You got this. Here we go.
Okay.
[bleep], there's, like,
a whole other ledge?
[laughing]
[screams] Oh, my God.
Keep going. Here we go.
ELIZABETH: Okay.
Last bit. Last bit.
Easy, you got it.
[Elizabeth exclaims]
Right when I think I'm
getting the hang of it. Okay.
♪♪♪♪♪
[panting]
This is pretty amazing.
Great job. Well done.
Well done. You're safe.
I was gripping so tight.
My hands are like--
Ah! I feel like
they have no, um...
uh, I don't know. I gotta
get the circulation back.
You never let go of that hand.
You regained your composure.
- Great job.
- [Elizabeth exclaims]
Is that really
the first time you've done that?
- ELIZABETH: Yeah.
- Well done.
- Wow. Okay.
- Great job.
Thank you.
I feel like that's gonna
look epic on camera,
and that's what
I'm always going for.
As an actor, you just want it
to be great on camera.
Whew!
That was really fun.
- BEAR: Watch yourself.
- ELIZABETH: Yeah.
BEAR: It's really crumbly.
Elizabeth, good job.
You know, that definitely
feels like into the deep end.
If you've never done anything
like that before, respect.
ELIZABETH: I'm so grateful
for being here right now.
Thank you so much.
Have you been on
a glacier before?
- Never even come close.
- Great. It's so fun.
We're probably gonna
follow this gully down now.
We're heading down towards
where the glacier is,
around this corner.
ELIZABETH: I can't
believe this day.
- [Bear chuckles]
- It's freaking glorious.
BEAR: Where do you think you got
that adventure spirit
from in your life?
You know, honestly,
I'm just really competitive.
- Yeah.
- I grew up in the first
generation of women
that got to go into boys'
and men's spaces a lot.
I wanna play football.
I like playing football.
You know, I wanna play baseball.
And I feel like
that was the beginning of it,
was getting into sports.
Then I carried that all the way
even through my career now.
Like, I started directing films
'cause I was like,
"Why do they just let boys do
it? I wanna do it," you know?
It was that same
sort of energy of,
I don't want just boys
to be able to climb mountains.
- I wanna climb mountains.
- Yeah.
Literally, I had grown up
being very sporty.
All-star softball player.
And then I literally
fell into acting.
I slid into third base
and broke my leg.
And I needed something else
to do after school.
The world thanked God
for the broken leg.
I mean, it's hard to say
I'm glad it happened to me,
but I think it put me on the
path that I was meant to be on.
- Yeah, I love that.
- ELIZABETH: Yeah.
Don't be scared of the--
the left-field things of life.
Yep, you've got to
get to the other side.
Like today,
I'm gonna get to my bed.
- Whatever you do.
- The bed is the target.
- Okay. Whatever it takes.
- I'm getting to my bed.
- [both chuckling]
- Brilliant.
[tense music]
ELIZABETH: Look at
all the little mushrooms.
Maybe we could
eat these mushrooms?
BEAR: Well, probably not.
The bang isn't worth the buck.
- But this stuff's good.
- What's stuff?
BEAR: This is sorrel.
- Sorrel? S-O-R-E-L?
- Yeah.
- Which is like the leaf, like--
- Yeah.
Try that.
It's, like, always a bit tangy.
- It's got a little citrus kick.
- Whoo!
Wow. Yeah.
Although, not brilliant for you.
- If you had a lot of these...
- It'd be bad.
- It'd be bad.
- So a little goes a long way.
A little bit
of vitamin C in there.
It's sort of-- You don't
expect it to be so strong.
So strong. You expect it
to taste like grass.
Yeah.
ELIZABETH: Okay. Whew!
Get to this glacier.
BEAR: "Glass-ee-er." I know
Americans will say "glay-sher."
- We say "glay-sher."
- I've had people stop me before
and people who go,
"Just say 'glass-ee-er'
- "and 'vit-uh-mins.'"
- When you win the w*r,
you get to say it
how you wanna say it.
BEAR: Won what w*r, Elizabeth?
ELIZABETH: The w*r for
our independence. [laughs]
♪♪♪♪♪
Now this all is a sure sign
we're getting closer
to the edge of it now, once you
get all of this ground-up stuff.
This is all friction
from the rocks
crushing all the big boulders
into little ones.
[Elizabeth chuckling] What?
- Look at how blue that is.
- Yeah.
It's gonna get
more and more spectacular
as we get closer here.
[Elizabeth gasps]
Look at that. Is it safe?
ELIZABETH: Is it safe?
What do you think?
How are you feeling?
[glacier cracking]
BEAR:
What you don't wanna do
is slip and then... [whooshes]
ELIZABETH: I have no desire
to be in any crevasse.
BEAR:
When we get on the crevasses,
we'll rope up together.
We'll use those crampons.
You've got those in your bag.
Oh, crampons!
They're called crampons.
- Yeah, the snowshoes.
- [laughing]
Guess what word I learned today?
"Crampons."
Didn't know what that was.
Very close to another word
that I'm very familiar with
as a woman.
BEAR: This is quite
an intimidating place.
A lot of crevasses.
This whole thing is moving.
ELIZABETH: Oh, boy.
I've had some close escapes
over the years down crevasses.
I'm very respectful
of this place.
I'm sitting on a glacier.
Ah, that's good. That's good.
We're gonna be using crampons.
We'll strap those on
to Elizabeth's boots.
Okay, so we're gonna put
a short line between us.
We'll rope up
an ice axe as well,
and then
we'll travel across this.
The key when you're walking with
these is watch out for, like,
hitting, scraping
across there and cutting
- yourself in your leg.
- Yeah.
- Don't cut yourself.
- So you walk a little bit
like John Wayne, so you've got
to be mindful of your steps,
have confidence
on those crampons,
and then keep moving
buddy-buddy together.
We'll go side by side together.
We're gonna zigzag our way.
We're trying to get
basically across and down.
ELIZABETH: I feel like
a child on a leash,
like at Disneyland.
BEAR: Yeah.
ELIZABETH: What?
No. Look at this hole.
Whoa, here's another big one.
Look at that.
Looks very deep.
Okay,
now how do we get down here?
BEAR: We'll do
a crevasse jump here.
- There?
- Yep.
I'll give you
a little bit of slack,
and then land nice
two-footed together.
Hold on.
- Ready?
- Yeah.
Three, two, one.
- Great.
- [Elizabeth groans]
Nice solid landing,
and then she takes in
that slack and I follow.
Okay, sure.
We're gonna be cautious
on this thing.
We've got sheet blue ice at
quite a deceptively steep angle.
So we're kind of just,
like, pepper potting our way,
making our way towards the end.
I fell in a big crevasse
on Everest.
- Did you really?
- Once, like at 20,000 feet.
It was, like, one of the
scariest things ever in my life.
We were climbing,
I came off one rope,
grabbed the next one, clipped on
as that carabiner
went over the rope.
It literally happened like,
clip, and then the ground went.
And I just fell and ended up
hanging 30 foot down this thing.
- Let's not repeat that.
- No, it's definitely-- I mean,
I'm always respectful
of crevasses anyway,
but I'm always
super cautious with them.
So we kind of zigzag our way
down, sneak our way through.
It's like a maze,
basically, of ice.
We try and just crisscross
so we avoid the big crevasses
like this one on our left.
ELIZABETH: It's very hard to
convey how big this thing is,
how deep these crevasses are.
Everywhere you look, it looks
like a bunch of open envelopes
that I could fall into
and never come back out of.
So, I'm actually excited
to get off of it. [laughs]
♪♪♪♪♪
Yeah, look,
a little bit of water in here.
Oh, yeah, look,
it's running all down.
Well, we could actually
collect some of that.
Normally, stagnant water,
you don't wanna be drinking it.
- Right.
- But on this,
that won't have melted
for thousands of years.
So it's literally as fresh
as it's gonna come.
Bit of elevation,
easy to get dehydrated up here.
So wherever we move,
we're always looking
if there are little
pockets of meltwater
that we can scoop up
and we can collect.
Okay, you wanna try some
beautiful, cold,
fresh, glacial water?
- Last defrosted...
- I only live one life.
...10,000 years ago.
[chuckling] Wow.
Oh, there's a big hole there.
- Across here?
- And then across, yeah.
To get stable,
let me come to you.
Okay, we're good.
- This way?
- Yep.
ELIZABETH: What?
[gasps] There.
BEAR: So these
are called moulins.
So basically holes,
and then as the water melts
and heats up,
and then it melts some more,
and you get these
huge circles in it.
So you're gonna
get more of those
as we get closer to the edge.
This time of year now,
the glacier is at its weakest.
Everything's had its most
amount of time to melt,
the most amount
of these rivulets,
all the water running across.
So we don't wanna
hang around on here.
We wanna get down off it
and then head
towards the big lake.
ELIZABETH: Oh, man,
there is a cliff here.
I don't understand
how we're getting down.
BEAR: How's that
looking over there?
ELIZABETH:
That's a complete no-go.
This glacier's receding.
[laughs] I'm laughing because
it's so insane what I'm doing.
BEAR: What about over that edge?
There? [laughs] There.
I couldn't see this whole thing
from where we were,
and now I realize there's just
a giant cliff face of ice.
There. What's happening?
BEAR: We've got enough rope
to get to the bottom here.
ELIZABETH: What does that mean?
BEAR: Elizabeth and I
have reached the end
of the glacier,
and we face a 120-foot drop
to the ice below.
At this time of year,
this ground is ever-shifting,
ready to give way.
Entire sections can break off
and crash below.
And all that will hold us
is a 12-inch ice screw.
So we have to, like,
rappel down this thing?
Yeah.
It's, like, a cliff face.
BEAR: You ever use
one of these before?
No. No, Bear.
I've never been on a glacier
or used whatever
the heck this thing is.
BEAR: Okay, so with this,
we literally just screw it in.
So I'm gonna use
a simple ice screw.
And it's just like a corkscrew,
but you just jam it
into the ice,
turn it,
and then it grips and bites.
- Oh, look at that. Wow.
- BEAR: Carabiner in that.
You keep an eye on it,
okay, 'cause this is just
on a little bit of
fragile ice, ultimately.
Yeah, the whole thing's
moving and melting.
The fact that
it is late in the season
and the glaciers are falling
apart is not calming me.
There's a giant piece of glacier
that fell off
right over there on the ground.
But the good news is
we have one 12-inch...
screw.
BEAR: So it's gonna be
exactly the same routine again.
You keep hold of it,
move your way back.
- Happy?
- [laughs] I-- I don't know.
I mean, the whole thing, this
whole thing could fall apart.
I know, but we're not
even gonna go there.
We're not even
thinking about that.
Let's just go. Let's just go.
BEAR: At this point here,
- really trust and lean back.
- Okay.
You don't wanna get
too vertical on those spikes,
- otherwise you'll slip out.
- Okay.
So nice lean back,
walk your way down.
Uh, and bye.
- See you at the bottom.
- Okay.
And that's it, then he's gone.
♪♪♪♪♪
BEAR: Pretty good.
[distantly] You're good to go!
Pull the rope through.
Wait, is he yelling to me? Bear?
BEAR: Yes?
I mean, there's a waterfall.
I can barely even hear him.
All right,
well, he's off the rope,
clearly, 'cause here it comes.
So he obviously
is no longer on it.
Now it's my turn.
Ready?
So I throw...
♪♪♪♪♪
All right, Bear.
[sighs] Here we go.
We're going over.
I'm leaning back.
I'm wide.
My hand's right, I think.
I'm gonna try
not to grip the rope
as tightly as I did last time.
Holy [bleep].
Much worse than the other one.
ELIZABETH: Okay.
[dramatic music]
Holy [bleep].
[exhales]
♪♪♪♪♪
Well done, Elizabeth.
Like a pro now.
♪♪♪♪♪
Oh, my gosh.
Whew.
Everything about this
adventure is a first for me.
- How was that?
- I've never been on a glacier.
I've never gone rappelling.
Twice.
It's been a non-stop day
of amazingness.
- Well done. Smashed it.
- Whew!
Always a good feeling
when you get off the end
of a massive glacier like that.
The ice screws held up.
Elizabeth smashed it.
She's a fast learner,
you can see.
Ah, what a trooper.
Well done. And we're done
with the crampons now.
This is the very,
very end of the glacier.
[Elizabeth gasps] Look at that!
It's a freaking cave.
[water trickling]
[gasps] Look, it's melting.
BEAR: That really is
right under it.
You don't wanna
hang around long in here,
but it is pretty cool.
ELIZABETH: Look at the wall.
- What makes it blue?
- BEAR: So blue is old.
The deeper it is, the heavier
it's been compressed,
the less air in it,
the bluer it is.
Imagine the weight of this.
I mean, it literally just
- carves through this stuff.
- Wow.
BEAR: So this whole thing
is gonna be moving.
ELIZABETH:
This is gonna be gone.
Look, it's melting
in front of our eyes.
BEAR: Yeah.
'Cause that water
has been frozen,
solidified for
thousands of years.
There's a definite
feeling of, like, life.
These are the first drops
[indistinct]
that have melted
for 10,000 years.
Wow. Wow, wow, wow.
I think we're standing
on ground that probably
has been tucked
underneath this glacier
for thousands of years.
[exclaims, laughs]
It's absolutely wild. I've
never been anywhere like this.
It's incredible.
It's the coolest place I've
ever been in my entire life.
Gives you a lot of perspective.
BEAR: Yeah,
that was pretty cool.
It's getting a little colder
now, the wind's picking up.
We've still got a bit of travel
to reach our extraction point,
so we're gonna warm up,
get something warm inside us
before we do
this last part of the journey.
I'm hoping we're not eating
the thing you stuck in my bag.
BEAR: Did you smell it?
It smells like
raw fish or carrion.
I'm afraid of it,
whatever it is.
I have stuck a secret
little packed lunch in her bag.
It's not maybe
the sort of packed lunch
you would be excited about,
is all I would say.
[gas hissing]
We got the stinking package.
Whatever this stinking package
is, are you gonna tell me?
- Is this food?
- Go and pull it out.
- Is it food for us?
- This is a Norwegian
fishing delicacy.
It's called rakfisk.
[laughing]
Dude, what?
It turns out
the thing in my backpack
that smelled like fish was fish.
I don't know what I thought.
I did not think it was our food.
So we're making,
like, a rakfisk stew?
BEAR: Yeah.
This is going in
the Bear cookbook.
Yeah,
it's a sort of limited market,
- I've got to be honest.
- [Elizabeth laughing]
Do you have a kind of memory
of the first time
that you were filming
where you kind of felt like,
"Actually, do you know what?
This is good."
- You've made it.
- You know...
I didn't-- I grew up in
a working class family and...
we're not artists or anything.
My father worked in a factory
and my mom worked at a bank.
You know, I grew up,
we drove to our vacations.
I stayed in motels, not hotels.
We didn't have an "H" in front
of the places we stayed.
And so I went to drama school.
For me, education was totally
how I got out of my town
and how I came
to live this big life.
I met my husband, you know.
And did you start getting jobs
quite quickly, then, after?
I got a job the literal first
day I was in New York City.
I got offered a two-year
contract on a soap opera.
And I didn't take it.
Did you know that was
the right thing in your heart?
I did. Despite the money,
which I really needed.
And then I called my mom
and burst into tears.
I was like, "Mom, I just
turned down all this money."
She was nothing but supportive.
Whether she believed
I made the right choice,
I don't actually know.
- But she told me I did.
- Mmm.
And I kept going.
That's very special parenting,
that, isn't it?
Yeah, it is. I think I'm going
for that too as a parent.
You've got to trust them.
And then how long until you...
I booked a commercial,
like, the next week.
Did a lot of commercials.
The first couple of years,
I sold a lot of things.
And then I got
an audition for a TV show.
I got flown to LA
for the first time.
I suddenly could see
my life coming together.
I was like,
"It was the right idea."
I was on the right path.
BEAR: You do so much.
You act, you direct,
you produce.
- Yeah.
- Do you like that diversity?
I love being a storyteller.
There's so much that
goes into making something
that happens before
the actor ever sets foot
in front of the camera,
and being able
to be a part of that side of it
- is really gratifying.
- Yeah.
And honestly,
I got into a lot of that stuff
because I was
a frustrated actress.
I didn't feel like
I had as much to do.
When you get to Hollywood,
you get put into a category,
sort of a box.
Like, "Oh, she's, you know,
the funny blonde, small boobs."
Like, that was my box.
And I knew that
the opportunities were gonna
have to be created by me or I
was gonna be pretty dissatisfied
with what was out there for me.
You got to look for
the green and red lights
in your life, you know,
and I had a lot of green lights.
Like, you are--
this is your green light.
Like,
you're obviously great at this.
It was something that I loved
and I felt a lot of--
It gave me a lot of self-worth.
But I never thought
about it as a life.
I never thought
this would be my life.
BEAR: Okay,
should we see how this is?
Oh, that looks
actually delicious.
Okay, ready?
It actually does not smell
as bad as it did before.
It's just like
a strong fish broth.
With a bit of...
- animal fat and berries.
- It's very strong.
We boiled it, which was
a lot better than raw.
I couldn't-- I really
thought I was gonna have to
just bite into a raw fish.
- [exclaiming]
- [Bear coughing]
Like, just sweet enough
to not make me wanna throw up.
That got a bit more
of a punch to it.
I am okay with it because, Bear,
you have been known
to drink urine.
And that's not urine,
so I'll take it.
Actually, it's great.
That meal did have
the potential to be terrible.
But actually,
when it all boils down,
it just becomes really good,
giving us
a little bit of warmth,
a little bit of strength
for the last push.
Re-warmed, re-hydrated,
a bit of energy.
We'll push on down to the lake.
- Okay.
- I asked our team
to cache some gear
that would help us
cross this lake,
and then we'll use that,
get to the other side
of the lake,
and that's our extraction point.
[tense music]
BEAR: So, what we're looking for
is a cache of gear
that the crew have left.
They said it'd be right at the
end of the lake by the glacier.
ELIZABETH: The glacier.
Yeah, the glacier, Bear.
BEAR: Elizabeth and I
are pushing hard,
and our extraction point
waits at the far end
- of this frigid glacial lake.
- ELIZABETH: Bear.
- There's something yellow.
- BEAR: Yeah, yeah.
It's impossible to swim that
far in temperatures like this,
so I've had my team
leave a cache of equipment
to give us a fighting chance.
ELIZABETH: We've just
got to get wet, huh?
The one thing I did not
wanna do was get super wet.
I hate being cold,
and we, of course,
are at a mountain lake.
Oh, [bleep].
Something tells me
this water's not gonna be warm.
We have found a kayak.
I am very glad
that it's a two-person kayak.
I was imagining someone was
gonna have to kick behind it
in this frigid Nordic lake,
but, um, we don't have to.
I'm grateful that
they brought us a two-seater.
- BEAR: I'll take the back.
- Okay.
Oh, wet.
So we're gonna push on
and paddle down.
It's about six or seven miles.
The sun is dipping. End of day.
We don't wanna miss
that helicopter extraction.
Please float,
please float, please float.
- BEAR: We're good.
- Okay, we're out.
[gentle music]
- BEAR: This is lovely.
- This is amazing. Oh, my God.
What? This is incredible.
Which way are we going?
Over there?
Straight down, yeah.
Keep paddling. I've got it.
- I can steer us from behind.
- Okay.
ELIZABETH: I'm really
trying to take this in.
I'm feeling super grateful.
I can't believe
that this is happening.
What an amazing place.
BEAR: Well, you've been
so fun to do it with.
Your boys will be proud
and enjoy watching this.
ELIZABETH: Oh, my gosh.
They're gonna lose their minds.
They're gonna be jealous
and wanna come is what it is.
[chuckles] Yeah.
Well, you're trained now.
ELIZABETH: I know.
Exactly right.
I think I'm gonna have
to abseil with my kids.
BEAR: Exactly, yeah.
ELIZABETH: Looking up, I was
just trying to take it in.
Unreal.
I don't think
I'll ever be here again.
But also,
I know that this is melting,
so it's not gonna be here.
It's wild to think about it.
BEAR: So how do you,
in a kind of industry
that's so
notoriously ungrounded...
- [both chuckling]
- ...how do you stay
so refreshingly
kind of humble and--
This industry loves
to keep you humble.
Are you kidding me?
You just can't take
any of it too seriously.
Like, at the end of the day,
we're making...
entertainment.
BEAR: It's like,
don't give it over-importance.
Take your job seriously,
do your best...
- That's it.
- But don't believe it too much.
ELIZABETH:
Take your job seriously,
don't take yourself
too seriously, you know?
BEAR: Yeah, that's a good way
of looking at it.
What are the values
that you always try and instill
in your two young boys?
ELIZABETH: I think
the main thing with kids
is just that they do their best.
BEAR: I like the thing
of "try your best."
It's actually the Scout motto,
"Do your best."
- Just do your best.
- You don't have to be the best.
You just got to try your best.
Just give it 100%.
This is the only life you got.
I think one of your superpowers
is that you manage
to be such a great mom.
Well, I got two good ones.
I got two good kids.
They make me a better mom.
We are pretty well here.
This is about as far
as we can go on this.
So we just got
to get out of this thing.
BEAR: So look,
the helicopter is inbound.
You know what there's
a little part of me
- that thinks we should do?
- What?
BEAR: I have got
one final surprise.
It's tempting when you see
the end of the lake
that you think it's all over.
But in terms
of survival training,
it is important
to know that it is never over.
First of all, we never get
complacent in survival.
[laughing] Oh, no!
- It's never--
- What's happening?
Why are we going away
from the shore, Bear?
BEAR: Be ready
for the unexpected.
Never get complacent.
There's a final bit of arctic
cold water training for her.
A big part of being able to look
after yourself in the wild
is dealing when things go wrong.
Dealing with cold water.
- Cold water is unforgiving.
- Yeah.
This water is only
just above freezing.
If you really want the Norway
survival experience...
- hold on, it's not quite over.
- Okay.
So we're gonna do
some cold water drills, okay?
Okay.
Very nervous. I'm very nervous.
We're in Norway.
This is not the Caribbean.
We're-- This is cold water.
I wouldn't normally
do this with someone.
- That's not true.
- Because this water
- is, like, arctic cold.
- Yes, this is frigid.
It's coming off of a glacier.
But I also wanna
kind of give you
a survival experience
where you go,
"Do you know what,
that bit I'm not gonna forget."
Okay.
I'm small. I'm not--
There's nothing keeping me warm.
Obviously you've got
no wetsuit or dry suit,
so this is gonna be cold,
we need to work fast.
ELIZABETH: I'm not
the strongest swimmer.
I'm scared of drowning. Like,
full-on I'm scared of drowning.
This is deep here.
And then once we get out,
we swim together
with the kayak into shore.
And then we're popping a flare.
Helicopter's inbound
in seven minutes.
And then we'll be out of here.
This is not gonna be a nice dip.
This is gonna be
a brisk awakening.
It's gonna tingle
every part of my body.
And maybe I need that.
[bleep]
But I don't want it. [laughs]
♪♪♪♪♪
[whimpers]
Please don't trap me
in this thing.
I'm really scared.
Okay, you get rid
of the kayak paddle.
Okay, we ready?
- No.
- One.
- Which way, this way?
- We're going left.
- This way?
- One, two, three.
- BEAR: Okay, we ready?
- ELIZABETH: No.
BEAR: One, two, three.
[intense music]
- Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
- Toward the shore.
ELIZABETH: The one thing
I didn't wanna do was get wet.
[laughing] He waited
till the very end.
Oh, my God.
I'm trembling.
[bleep]! Oh!
Oh, [bleep]!
BEAR: Oh, my God,
I'm not gonna lie, it's cold.
[both panting]
That's the coldest water
I've ever went in.
- [Bear chuckles]
- Whoo!
BEAR: This has been
a challenging journey, no doubt.
Okay, keep moving.
You come to this part
of the world, Norway.
Glaciers, arctic, ice.
And I was unsure
of how Elizabeth would do.
She's never done anything
like this before.
But she elevated.
A smile on her face, super
positive, up for the challenge.
- Go! Keep moving, Elizabeth.
- ELIZABETH: Okay, okay.
I have to keep moving
'cause I'm freezing otherwise.
- Whew!
- Okay, hold that.
Okay. [exhales]
Give it a pull
and hold it right there.
- Go that way?
- Go.
- Okay.
- Keep holding it.
Keep holding it.
It's gonna ignite.
- Do I just leave it--
- [pop]
The highlight today besides
great conversation with Bear
was the glacier itself.
These places are disappearing,
and I feel like this is
a very, very special place
that I was able to see today.
Actually touching it,
being a part of it,
swimming in this Nordic lake
was unbelievable, honestly.
I wouldn't say it was fun.
It took my breath away,
and I'm freezing,
but I wouldn't have traded
a minute of today for anything.
Whoo! Okay.
[adventurous music]
ELIZABETH: Okay.
♪♪♪♪♪
She's been quietly courageous,
relentlessly strong,
and always positive.
What I would say to her boys
is they're lucky to have her.
What an incredible lady.
ELIZABETH: Bear, you gave me
a lot of compliments today
about my momming, and I just
wanna pay them back to you.
You are a great dad.
Everything that we did is
a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Just coming here, seeing
everything that we saw today.
Honestly, I'm proud of myself.
I feel like
I was really brave today,
and I'm gonna show this off
to everyone that I've ever met.
Elizabeth Banks!
- Whoo!
- Running Wild With Bear!
We did it!
[Elizabeth cheering]
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