Will Smith celebrates 50th birthday with Grand Canyon bungee jump

Credit: Dan Mullan

Credit: Dan Mullan

Will Smith knows how to celebrate in style.

The actor, who turned 50 Tuesday, celebrated the milestone by livestreaming his bungee jump from a helicopter into the Grand Canyon on his YouTube channel.

People reported that "Will Smith: The Jump" was hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro, his longtime friend and former "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" costar. The actor's wife, actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, and his children, daughter Willow and sons Trey and Jaden, gave him a group hug before the jump.

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Some of the actor's famous friends -- Tom Cruise, DJ Khaled and LeBron James, to name a few -- sent in video messages wishing him a happy birthday.

Smith made the 1,000-foot jump over the Grand Canyon, overcoming one of his biggest fears: being scared.

“I’ve had an interesting relationship with fear my whole life,” Smith said, reflecting on a family trip to the landmark when he was younger.

“We drove to the Grand Canyon, and I remember having a deeply meaningful experience of how beautiful it was, but I was terrified of walking to the edge. All my family walked up to the edge but I stayed back, too scared to take in the beauty. I’ve made it a point in my life to attack anything that I’m scared of.”

Once the jump was made and he was back on solid ground, Smith said he would do it again.

“Nothing, nothing will ever be scarier than that. It goes from complete, absolute terror to the most magnificent bliss you’ve ever felt in your life,” he said.

“It’s like the whole Grand Canyon is mine. It’s like no one will ever have that view. It’s almost like you need the terror to experience the bliss.”

In reacting to the jump, Smith applied it to life.

"Don't hesitate. Go. Commit. You gotta commit, you know?" Smith said. "You might get hurt. You might lose something, but it's like, you can't experience the joy that is intended for you in life if you don't go!"

The Source reported that the jump was part of a campaign to raise awareness and money for Global Citizen, an international advocacy organization that supports education access and other initiatives, including ending extreme poverty.

Watch Smith's jump on YouTube.

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