[IMG:L]We know him best as Animal Planet’s globetrotting wildlife and rainforest expert, but recently Jeff Corwin joined forces with top newsman Anderson Cooper for what Corwin describes as a “city mouse and country mouse” adventure.
From the Brazilian rainforest to the arctic tundra, the two traveled far and wide to bring to light issues of climate change, vanishing habitats, disappearing species, and human population growth in their new CNN documentary Planet in Peril.
When they met up again with fellow Peril correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta for the Hollywood premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Cooper was quick to confess he “didn’t really realize you actually have to go into nature to report on the environment.”
“Anderson was acting like the first person to get killed in a horror movie,” Corwin responded to a roar of laughter from the audience.
When Hollywood.com ran into Corwin at the premiere after party, sponsored by CNN and Netflix, he had a lot to say about the two-part documentary, the environment, and more.
Hollywood.com: What was it like to work with Anderson Cooper?
Jeff Corwin: We really had a great time. Whenever I was going to complain about the hotel, or the food, or whatever, I would look over and see him just dealing with it. So I was like, if he can deal with it I can deal with it. He was a great sport. He seems like a really serious news guy, but underneath that he is very funny with a really quick wit.
HW: What do you hope people will take away from Planet in Peril?
JC: What I want people to walk away with is to realize that everyone has an impact in what they do and that impact is incredibly profound. Most people feel powerless–and I want people to realize we have reached a crossroads, just about to slip into the precipice of no return when it comes to salvaging wildlife and I think we have a chance to step up and show some environmental stewardship. As a global community, we’ve been cosmetic. I hope people will be sobered and shaken to realize that in Cambodia there are maybe 20 tigers left in the entire country of Cambodia. In South East Asia, there are under 200 elephants left and these are just some of the animals that we touch upon. In one of the scenes we actually find a new species and we come to this sort of reality that that species will probably be extinct despite its novelty for the 22nd Century. So that’s what I want people to walk away with, that we are almost at the point of no return, but we are not there yet. If we are going to salvage what we have left, we need to step up big.
[IMG:R]HW: What can we do as individuals to help with these global issues?
JC: What people need to realize is they have an impact: it is how they function economically … how you use your resources. Look at what your impact is in a day. For example, I am having this drink. This drink will give me the liquid I need and will provide me a few hours of sustainability. For me to drink this, I am consuming it from a receptacle that will last about 2,000 years. I have a straw, but I don’t need a straw. I can take you to the Bay of China and you will see millions of these. I can take you to a bird’s nest and you can see them in the nest of a bird. I have been trying to take baby steps and I think for people there is no radical immersion, very few of us are capable of it. It is like you lose weight and you gain it all back and then some. Take small steps. It is everything about how we use our resources, how we spend our money, the politicians we–we’ve learned that haven’t we? About the politicians we put in power. So it is all those things and it is about being proactive and recognizing you are not a nobody. You are not a blank face–you are an entity who will have an impact. You will leave a foot print. What’s that foot print going to look like?
HW: What was the most eye opening experience for you during the filming of Planet in Peril?
JC: The most eye opening experience was some of the stuff we filmed in South East Asia. To walk into what looks like a pristine forest and to have it be absolutely silent; every bird, every lizard, every mammal had been plucked from that jungle and has probably perished to a most miserable death. To walk into a stall and see tiger skins laid out, to know that you are holding a tiger, you are holding in your hands the macabre of 1 percent of a population left … Being in Madagascar and the elation of discovering a new species with the reality check of that species not having enough habitat to survive.
HW: Have you encountered a species in your travels that is now extinct?
JC: I remember once filming this bird–I’m a big bird guy and I was in Hawaii filming this bird called the honeycreeper–and I remember I went all the way over to see this thing and I looked at the guy and all this fancy hoopdeedo and Henny Penny the sky is falling about this bird and I asked the guy, “Dude, what is the big deal?” He said. “It is the last one. It is the last of its kind.” I got an email two years ago: “It is extinct.” So I’ve had that grotesque honor of witnessing the setting of sun of a species. Watching a species go from extent to extinct. Extinction is not new to our planet, but this is the first time one species holds the cards for everything else.
HW: Would you agree Hollywood has taken the green movement to a new level this year?
JC: Yeah, but are they doing it out of fashion? Is it something that is going to be long term or is it being done solely out of the moment. We always have those moments with various diseases, homelessness and those are important issues, but this is an issue that not only very much affects the quality of the natural world, but the quality of our species. We are doing things, climate change that our radically affecting the landscape and the wildlife that lives here so I think yes, but I wonder if it is cosmetic and a veneer and what we have to do is deep tissue. I mean it is a cancer. It is like saying, “I’ve got cancer and I’m going to cut back to half a pack a day.” No, you’ve got to have radical changes in your life to restore your survivability. If we want to keep our planet, restore and reclamate habitat and prevent this incredible runaway train of extinction it requires us to radically look at how we reproduce, how we use our resources and how we function as a global community.
[IMG:L]HW: This year we had the The 11th Hour and other films and television programs shining light on the environment. Who do you think is doing it well?
JC: I admire all that stuff. Planet in Peril for me was an incredible moment because it really encapsulates four big issues. We had the luxury of traveling over the year looking at these things and create four hour documentary and that was a really unique experience. Discovery Channel, Animal Planet … we are all doing that stuff, there is a lot of incredible programming out there, but are they watching it? Are people watching An Inconvenient Truth because they feel like they have to watch it or are they watching it because they need that information to apply to their lives? That will be the ultimate test: the legacy we pass on.
Planet in Peril airs Oct. 23 and Oct. 24 at 9/10c, followed by a Netflix DVD release Nov. 20, 2007.
