'She-Hulk' star Tatiana Maslany nearly brought to tears after overcoming fears of heights and cold with the help of Bear Grylls
The actress plays tough on her series, but her biggest challenges yet may be facing some deep-seated phobias.
Actress Tatiana Maslany has played some pretty tough characters on hit shows like Orphan Black and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, but it turns out she has a few major fears in real life that she was able to face head-on during Sunday’s Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge.
Host Grylls invited Maslany to the Laramie Mountains in Wyoming during winter for what was an up-and-down adventure — literally. And it started by going down, as in the two of them rappelling down a 150-foot cliff. Right away, Maslany had her reservations.
“It’s so steep, I can’t even see the bottom. And I’m mild to moderately to maximumly afraid of heights. So this is gonna be very fun,” she said with a nervous laugh.
The actress reiterated her fear of heights and admitted to having jelly legs before finally bringing herself to go over the edge. Slowly and steadily she made her way down, with comments from Grylls along the way like, “have a look down” and “you’re looking like a pro.”
Maslany was speechless for a moment after she reached the bottom, and then Grylls asked about her legs.
“More like a jelly spine at this point. That was insane,” Maslany said, later adding: “I feel elated, and I might cry in two seconds cuz that’s… I’m riding that emotion. I feel very proud. That was super fun.”
And while Maslany was feeling good about herself, Grylls was also impressed from his point of view.
“For Tatiana to do that as her first rappel, someone who’s scared of heights, respect, “ he said. “No surprise that at the bottom is a bit of emotion, that’s why the wild is beautiful. It shakes us like rag dolls but leaves us smiling in the end. It’s magical.”
Later, after pulling bone marrow from the limbs of a rotting elk for dinner that night, Grylls broke the news to Maslany that she was going to have to be submerged in freezing cold water the next day before she could be extracted from the location. And after practicing with just her hand in icy cold water, Maslany was somewhat hesitant.
“There was definitely a point where I was like, ‘I’m just gonna, like, tap out here.’ So I'm freaking out about tomorrow, I gotta be honest. Uh, totally different level of fear,” she said.
Maslany later admitted — while the bone marrow was coming to a boil — that along with heights she is also afraid of the cold and of being sick and throwing up, hence the reason she wasn’t super stoked about the bone marrow, either.
But Maslany ate her dinner and when it came time to do the cold water plunge the next day, she was ready. After getting in, her gasp reflex quickly took over, and Grylls was there to help her get it under control. After a few moments, it was time to get back out and dry off — she did it.
“I am totally buzzing,” Maslany said afterward. “I was in a different state in my body than I've ever experienced before. And to have this, like, euphoria afterward is amazing.”
Grylls said her ability to do the survival stunt was “amazing” and was happy to see that she picked up a few lessons to take with her back to the real world.
“She’s learned that vital thing, that the only way to get over the things that we’re scared of in life is by doing them,” Grylls said. ‘That’s her real superpower.”
Running Wild with Bear Grylls airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on National Geographic.
