Smith stars in a brand new TV series alongside a former Wales international who now has a very different life
Smith has enlisted the help of a former Wales international
Hollywood star Will Smith has teamed up with former Wales rugby international Richard Parks for a new TV series, with the pair joining forces to tackle some of the world’s toughest terrain.
Former back rower Parks, who won four international caps for Wales, represented Newport, Pontypridd, Celtic Warriors, Leeds Tykes, Perpignan and the Dragons before retiring due to injury in 2009. Having hung up his boots at the age of 31, he has since reinvented himself as an extreme endurance athlete and adventurer.
The Pontypridd-born ex-forward has gone on to hold multiple world records as a polar and alpine athlete, having skied more solo, unsupported and unassisted miles in Antarctica than anyone else in history. He is also the first person of colour to ski solo to the South Pole.
Parks’ unique skillset and knowledge led Smith – the star of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Bad Boys and Hancock – to recruit him to accompany him on an epic mission as part of a new National Geographic series, which will air in the new year.
Parks won four caps for Wales
The seven-part docuseries took five years to make, and sees Smith travel across all seven continents, taking on everything from the Amazonian jungle and Himalayan mountains to African deserts and the icefields of Antarctica.
Viewers will see the Oscar-winning actor throw himself into challenges from climbing mountains to catching giant fish and spiders, while joined by scientists, explorers and local experts.
The opening episode of the series, which will air on National Geographic on January 14 and will be broadcast on Disney+ and Hulu, sees Smith and Parks in the Ellsworth Mountains of Antarctica, as they attempt to travel 700 miles from their basecamp to the South Pole.
One hair-raising moment in the episode sees the actor attempt to ascend an ice wall, following Parks’ lead. The treacherous conditions lead the former Wales international to warn Smith that the “wind is picking up,” to which he replies: “Oh my god, it’s like a fricking hurricane”.
The former rugby player, pictured in 2010, is now a world record-holding extreme endurance athlete and adventurer(Image: Mirrorpix)
While visibly exhausted, however, the 57-year-old makes it to the top of the 300ft wall, before embracing Parks and saying: “It was terrible down there, but I loved it.”
Speaking to WalesOnline in 2020, Parks opened up on his retirement from rugby, having had his career cut short by a recurring shoulder injury which saw doctors advise him to walk away from the game.
“It’s been a journey,” he said as he reflected on his career and new life. “I’ve been retired 11 years now and I would say for the first three or four years [it was] still incredibly difficult to watch a game.
“Having developed my own, unique niche in this world, I’m in a different place now.
“The changing room is a truly, truly special place before and after games,” he added. “But, no, as far as actually running out onto the pitch or the day-to-day life as a professional rugby player, I’m grateful for mine, but I’m in a very different place now and I love what I do now.”
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