“Paul Rudd is absolutely passionate about octopuses,” shared Secrets of the Octopus executive producer Maria Wilhelm at the TCA Winter Press Tour. The third installment of James Cameron’s Secrets of franchise with National Geographic premieres this Sunday, April 21st, at 8/7c on Nat Geo before streaming on Disney+ this Earth Day. Being the third entry, Paul Rudd is the third headliner to narrate the series, following Sigourney Weaver and Natalie Portman. “He brings a heart, a dimension, a quirkiness, and really channels our wonder at these beings through him. We’re very, very appreciative that he agreed to do the series.”
(National Geographic/PictureGroup)
National Geographic couldn’t bring octopus with them to Pasadena, but their most trusted ambassadors participated in the panel, starting with National Geographic Explorer Dr. Alex Schnell, who also serves as the on-camera host for the series. “You need to be incredibly patient, and you need to have a very sharp eye,” Dr. Schnell explained about finding an octopus in the wild. “Often, when I'm looking for one, I'm looking for things that look like a rock or a bumpy piece of algae. If I'm lucky, there's a slight movement, and then I realize there's an octopus right in front of me. And then, you just have to be with it. In order to take in every wondrous detail of an octopus, you just have to let it be in its space and just watch it. Some of the times I spent with these individuals, it would take sometimes hours, sometimes days, but the thing that constantly fascinates me is their incredible ability to trust. We have this animal that has no backbone, no shell, no claws, no teeth to protect itself and yet, their extreme vulnerability is outweighed by curiosity. For example, my time spent with the day octopus in the Great Barrier Reef, after one day of spending time with her, she decided to make contact. And she reached out her suckered arm as if to offer me a handshake, and that took my breath away because it's so rare for a wild animal to want to make contact with a species that's ten times their size.”
“What I find just mind-blowing is that these animals are so intelligent and perceptive that they could decide that you are not a threat, and their curiosity wins out, and they will want to find out more about you,” added executive producer Adam Geiger. “It just says so much about octopus and about what we don’t know about the rest of the animal world.” With over 300 known species of octopus in the world, the team had to be selective about which types of octopus would become stars. “We filmed in five countries at about ten different locations. There are eight primary species in the series, but about 12 overall, so four species make a bit of a show as well. And those locations, some of them were quite remote or difficult to get a film crew into, and the depths ranged from 20 meters, 60 feet or so, to water this deep, because octopus have basically conquered from the deep sea right up to the shallows, or even on land.”
“The Secrets series is really taking a different direction, upending natural history in the way that it's been produced by really forging that intimate connection with nature,” explained Maria Wilheim about what sets the franchise apart from other nature documentaries. And Secrets of the Octopus somewhat breaks the established mold for this series, with three episodes instead of four and a shift away from each episode singling out one species. But the hallmarks of the series are still there. “We emphasize culture, we emphasize communication. We’re trying to bring the audience into that intimate connection. This is very consistent with what Jim [Cameron] said. We’re sending a strong message that we need to reconnect with nature, and we think we've been doing so rather successfully.”
Also on the panel was author Sy Montgomery, whose tie-in book, Secrets of the Octopus, was designed for viewers who want to go even further into the world of these eight-armed invertebrates. “We’re separated from them by half a billion years of evolution,” Sy explained about our fascination with them. “Our last common ancestor was a tube. So what I love about them is their sameness and their difference, and some people love the difference. They love that you have to go to outer space or science fiction to find something as different from a human as an octopus, with a brain that’s a ring around its throat, blue blood, and three hearts, and able to change color and shape, and spit venom, and shoot ink. But on the other hand, you can be friends with an octopus. I’ve been lucky enough to experience that in captivity and in the wild, but not to the degree that they show us in this incredible series. It is the most blessed moment to have an alien creature like this. You see their glittering eye swivel in its socket and lock on your eyes, and you feel seen as if an angel picked you out. And that is a moment of connection with all life that really changes how you feel about being a creature on this planet.”
You can hear more from Dr. Alex Schnell and Sy Montgomery in my interview with the octopus experts.
Secrets of the Octopus premieres Sunday, April 21st, at 8/7c on Nat Geo. The series will be available to stream beginning this Earth Day, Monday, April 22nd, on Disney+ and Hulu.