Bear Grylls heads into the wild with Tatiana Maslany, Bradley Cooper and more

NEW YORK –

For his final role, Bradley Cooper hopped on a hovering helicopter, rappelled off a 400-foot cliff and pulled himself over a 100-foot canyon in one of the harshest climates in North America.

His reward wasn’t an Oscar nomination or a major blockbuster. It was a hug from adventurer Bear Grylls and some words of encouragement.

“He wrecked it,” says Grylls.

Cooper is one of many celebrities – including Benedict Cumberbatch, Cynthia Erivo, Russell Brand, Troy Kotsur, Rita Ora, Daveed Diggs and Tatiana Maslany – who have put their survival skills to the test in a new season of Nat Geo’s “Running Wild with Bear Grills”. : The Challenge”, will premiere on Sunday.

“I am really proud of this season. We’ve had incredible guests who pushed the boundaries in terms of terrain and challenge,” Grylls told The Associated Press. “When it’s really bad weather with nice people, it’s often really compelling TV.”

The series pairs Grylls with a celebrity in a harsh environment for 48 hours. The first day Grylls learns key skills, including climbing techniques, tips for finding water and making fire, and the second day the guest must do them on their own.

Kotsur, who won an Oscar for “CODA,” was tested in the Scottish Highlands, descending 760m across 13km of rough terrain and icy rivers, including a 45m rappel down a waterfall. As Kotsur is deaf, the two men used tugs to communicate. Kotsur’s reward: haggis, a Scottish delicacy in which organ meat is stuffed into a sheep’s stomach and cooked.

A city kid, Diggs finds himself in Nevada’s harsh Great Basin Desert.

“I don’t know how this is going to turn out and that’s why I’m doing it,” he says. Diggs learns how to use anchor points, track a target, and fire a signal. His dinner is a tarantula.

“It’s not what I was hoping for, I’m not going to lie to you,” says Diggs.

Grylls told the AP that the best guests are always the ones willing to go along, not to look good.

“The wilderness is so unpredictable and things are always happening. You can’t always look cool in the wild,” he said.

The show isn’t just about survival. Grylls’ guests usually open up and show a different side. Ora talks about her ties to Kosovo, Cooper seems unfazed about eating mule deer’s tongue, and Cumberbatch reveals stories about his grandfather. Over a campfire, Grylls goes deeper than many TV interviewers.

“It’s as much about the stars and their own personal journeys and struggles and battles as it is about the adventure and the places,” he says. “I think that combination works well because it doesn’t feel like a performance, like a talk show, where you’re dressed up and made up and you get three minutes.”

Cumberbatch is taken to the Isle of Skye, where his grandfather trained as a submariner. He learns how to use climbing claws and how to do an Italian hitch.

“It’s not like doing a stunt in a Marvel movie. It’s much more realistic,” says Cumberbatch. His meal is seaweed and limpets – “Absolutely al dente,” he jokes – and his bed is a wet field.

Ora arrives in Nevada’s Valley of Fire after a 15,000-foot skydive, learns to climb a chimney, butchers a dead pigeon, sacrifices her lip balm to make fire, and uses a sock to soak up water. She and Grylls even dance on a rock ledge, casting their shadows high.

“The wilderness clothes us all naked, doesn’t it?” Grylls told the AP. “It’s like a grape when you squeeze us, you see what we’re made of. And that’s always the appeal of ‘Running Wild’: getting to know the real people.”

One commonality among the guests is that viewers will often hear that it was the celebrity’s parents who instilled in them a sense of adventure and put themselves to the test.

“It’s a reminder of how important parenting is,” Grylls said. “Almost always when I ask stars, ‘Where did it come from?’ they say, ‘Oh, my dad was great when I was really struggling in school.’ Or, “My mom was just such a three-job inspiration.”

“Running Wild with Bear Grylls” is just one of many shows the adventurer juggles. On TBS this year, he debuted “I Survived Bear Grylls,” a competition series that bridges the survival and game show genres by having regular contestants reenact some of Grylls’ stunts — like digging through poop or drinking urine. Younger fans can also enjoy ‘You vs. Wild,” an interactive Netflix show asking viewers to choose how Grylls will make it out of the wild alive.

“I won’t be doing these shows forever, but hopefully I have an adventurous spirit and know the value of good friends and the power of a never give up attitude in the world – hopefully those things will continue,” the 49 – year old said.

He seems to have tapped into something deep in human DNA – a need to be able to start a fire, use tools and control the wilderness. But Grylls thinks it’s more than that.

“I do believe it is a state of mind. We don’t have to be in the wild to live an adventurous life,” he said. “It’s how we live our lives, how we approach our work, our relationships, our dreams, our aspirations, our interactions with people. Are we leaning to the adventurous side? Are we always pushing the boundaries, are we taking a few risks?”