There are celebrities with TV travel shows who just can鈥檛 wait to show you where they came from or push the limits of their bodies or go out of their way to locate a perfect recipe. Then there鈥檚 Eugene Levy.
The 鈥淪chitt鈥檚 Creek鈥� star admits he鈥檚 not really a fan of the cold or the heat. He doesn鈥檛 really like eating strange things and, well, insects freak him out. He鈥檇 rather stay home, to be honest.
鈥淣ot only do I not love traveling, I鈥檝e got a very low sense of curiosity,鈥� he says during an interview. 鈥淚 do not have an adventurous spirit. And I鈥檓 actually thinking, well, aren鈥檛 those things you need to host a travel show?鈥�
Not necessarily, and so welcome, to Apple TV+鈥檚 the unlikely wedding of a droll and cautious host with some of the most beautiful places on Earth.
During the eight-episode series, Levy swims in a frozen lake in Finland, walks around slot canyons in Utah and explores a rainforest in Costa Rica. He also visits Italy, Japan, the Maldives, Portugal and South Africa, even going on safari and enjoying a gin and tonic as he does.
The more uncomfortable he seems, the funnier the show becomes. 鈥淚鈥檓 the more Great Indoors type of guy,鈥� he jokes to his guide in a forest in Costa Rica brimming with thousands of species of animals, what he calls 鈥渁ll those tiny threats to life.鈥� While ice fishing in Finland, he notes drily: 鈥淗earty and resilient are two words that have never been used to describe me.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping this appeals to seasoned travelers that might watch this and chuckle,鈥� he says later in the interview. 鈥淏ut also to people who, like me, don鈥檛 travel extensively, are not fond of traveling, don鈥檛 have that sense of adventure, so to speak 鈥� that they will see me as a kindred spirit.鈥�
鈥淭he Reluctant Traveler鈥� was initially a show pitched as a way to feature hotels with remarkable views that morphed into one which really shines when Levy leaves them to go into the culture he鈥檚 visiting and is changed.
In Utah, he stays in an elegant property overlooking the Colorado Plateau where rooms go for more than $3,000 a night but finds a real sense of spirituality visiting his Navajo guide鈥檚 modest homestead.
鈥淭he memorable thing for me, by and large, are the people that I鈥檓 running into,鈥� Levy says. 鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that this is one of those shows with a nice kind of different personality.鈥�
In Finland, Levy rides a snowmobile, goes ice fishing and ice swimming, eats reindeer and attempts husky sledding 鈥� 鈥淗ow do you say slow down in dog?鈥� he asks 鈥� and ice swimming. He finds Finns deserve their reputation as some of the happiest people on Earth. 鈥淚鈥檝e never met people that were any happier and don鈥檛 know whether being big vodka drinkers has anything to do with it,鈥� he jokes.
Levy landed the job by trying to talk himself out of it. Executive producer David Brindley recalls he and Apple executive Alison Kirkham were on a phone call trying to lure Levy into hosting a travel show and listening to him explain how he was the wrong man for the job. They were in stitches.
鈥淲e all have fears about certain things and we all have things that scare us and we sort of wish that we could do something about them, but we never do. And Eugene has just given himself over to this process,鈥� said Brindley. 鈥淎nd, as a result, maybe he doesn鈥檛 enjoy absolutely everything that he puts in his mouth or every activity that goes on, but it鈥檚 had a positive influence and he鈥檚 come away a bit of a different person.鈥�
The 76-year-old actor with bushy eyebrows and round glasses joins a crowded field of celeb travel hosts, which includes Zac Efron, Chris Hemsworth, Will Smith, Stanley Tucci, Macaulay Culkin and Ewan McGregor.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of travel shows around the world and rightly so. They鈥檙e gorgeous and they鈥檙e escapist and they鈥檙e beautiful,鈥� said Brindley, chief creative officer at production house Twofour. 鈥淏ut launching a new one, you want to find something that has a unique selling point, that has the chance to do something a tiny bit different that will just grab people鈥檚 attention and also that feels relatable.鈥�
So in South Africa, viewers will get a kick out of watching Levy nervously reacting to wild animal noises, seeing his first warthog 鈥� 鈥淭hat is not a pleasant-looking thing!鈥� 鈥� and playing golf among hippos. He collects a fecal sample from a tranquilized elephant and charmingly bottle feeds a baby rhino. 鈥淭hat was a very, very cute experience,鈥� he says.
To keep Levy fresh, he and his team would visit two locations at a time 鈥� spending one week in each 鈥� and then break for a few months before reuniting for another set of visits.
Levy consulted over the list of possible locations for the first season and says he got more adventurous each time. 鈥淎s the series went on, I was kind of rolling with the punches,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檒l see how the viewers take to it.鈥�
鈥擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press
