PASADENA, Calif. — Natalie Portman will narrate Nat Geo’s Earth Day series Secrets of the Elephants. The series premieres April 21. James Cameron, director of Avatar: The Way of the Water, is an executive producer.
Cameron turned up at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour to discuss his Secrets of series. Next year will be Secrets of the Octopus, with Bees and Penguins to follow.
“With an over 135-year-old legacy in natural history content, we’re just as passionate about who’s telling our stories as the stories we tell,” said Courteney Monroe, content president, Nat Geo. “Whether it be our onscreen scientists in Secrets of the Elephants, our narrators like Natalie Portman, or our filmmakers like Jim Cameron, we have become a port-of-call for best in class talent who want to tell meaningful stories that inspire a deeper connection to our world. Our Secrets of franchise reinforces our commitment at National Geographic to remaining THE leader in natural history storytelling."
Cameron shared a clip of the National Geographic special Titanic: 25 Years Later with James Cameron. The special will air February 5 leading into the remastered film’s theatrical release February 10.
“On the Avatar films, we're creating a fantasy view of nature but, thematically, underneath all that is this idea of the interconnectedness not only of nature itself but of us with nature, as inhabitants of nature,” Cameron said. “In the Secrets series we try to forge an even more intimate and emotional connection with nature — to illuminate how these amazing creatures think, how they feel, how they communicate, how they function as complex societies and cultures.”
Cameron and Maria Wilhelm of Earthship are exec producers on the Secrets of series.
Portman’s movies include Thor: Love & Thunder, Jackie and Black Swan. ■
