Will Ferrell (left) of “Land of the Lost” is Bear Gryll’s guest on “Men vs Wild”

Written by Jude Thaddeus L. Bautista

photos provided by Monica Guerra

Bear Grylls may be one of the most recognizable faces from Discovery channel.  He’s the man who gives the thumbs up sign to the camera and let’s go of his left hand hanging on a chopper to plunge 100 feet down into the bluest ocean you could find. Viewers see it in the many trailers. Hardcore fans know it’s the man they call Bear. And that’s how he usually starts an episode of “Man vs Wild”.

While it may not be a pioneer in survival shows, it can certainly claim to be the most popular. “Survivorman” with Les Stroud the first to have a concept of true survival in the wild premiered last July here in the Philippines. “Man vs Wild” is already one of Discovery channel’s biggest hits. With the explosion of interest in outdoor activities such as mountain climbing, off road biking etc. the show has found its niche audience. Even if you weren’t into out door activities, it’s hard not to get glued to the action and adrenaline of a real life adventure. He’s literally dropped off the remotest places on earth. His mission is to find his way back to civilization and overcome whatever nature throws at him.

The show has been through desert islands, the arctic, Southeast Asia, nearly any natural environment you can think of. It has such astounding success that it has gotten the attention of celebrities who want to be part of the experience. Will Ferrell is the very first guest on the show, his film “Land of the Lost” will be premiering about the same time. Discovery channel will air their journey in Sweden on Monday, August 3 at 9pm, where Will’s forebears immigrated from (to America). The combination of one of the funniest comedians in Hollywood, in a real survival situation is not to be missed. The celebrity addition to the show has since changed the episode name to “Men vs Wild: The Will Ferrell Special.”

In a phone interview, Bear was able to share a lot of his thoughts and even some of his personal life. Fans may think his name Bear came from his many adventures in the wild or refers to an untamed animal. But his name actually came from “Teddy Bear”. His parents hadn’t decided on a name until a few weeks after his birth in Ireland. The teddy was his constant companion then. He grew up to enter the army and even went to train with the French Legion. Grylls also became a Special Forces or SAS agent where he was heavily trained in survival skills.

Will Ferrel and Bear Grylls bonded over the experience

His straightforward but action packed approach in his show has drawn a lot of viewers from across the world. Combining this with Will Ferrell is a surefire hit. Grylls described, “Will kept on asking when he could drink his own pee. Fortunately we didn’t have to do that. And I asked him two things.  One is just turn up on your own without an entourage, and the other is just trust me, and he completely did it. We met on the tip end of the Arctic.  He turned up sort of a bit shell-shocked, a bit kind of shock of capture, but he really trusted me, and we had a blast, and I think it was amazing.  His confidence grew as the journey went on, but we’re going to do more of these, I think, as kind of just specials in between the normal Man vs. Wild.  Yes, we’ll see how they go.  But as a one-off and as the first one, he did amazingly, and I was really proud of how he did.”

The two are the most unlikely pair; one is the loud, brash American and the other the British, serious survival expert. And yet the two bonded over the experience. Grylls continued,“We had a blast, you know, and he’s a very funny man, and we worked hard together.  But it’s a real sort of privilege to call him a friend after that. He said he went through one of the most intense experiences of his life. The magic of the wild is that it creates strong bonds between people. The fluff of life gets blown away, and it brings you close.”  “Men vs Wild: The Will Ferrell Special” Encores air on Tuesday, August 4 at 12am, Saturday, August 8 at 6pm and Sunday, August 9 at 10am.