Tom Hanks Takes You on the ‘Ultimate Safari’ in New Docuseries The Americas, Says Producer: ‘Journey of a Lifetime’ (Exclusive)

If you’ve ever wanted to go on a whirlwind adventure with Tom Hanks, now’s your chance.

The Oscar-winning actor is taking viewers on “an hour of discovery” as he narrates the new NBC 10-part nature documentary series, The Americas, premiering Sunday, Feb. 23.

“He’s the voice of America,” executive producer Mike Gunton tells PEOPLE of Hanks, who was his first choice to provide voice — and heart — behind the incredible footage he and his team captured.

The producer, whose many credits also include the nature documentary hit Planet Earth II, describes showing the episodes to Hanks as “quite nerve-racking.” But as they watched together, Hanks told him, “I was born to narrate this.”

“I think he was,” Gunton continues. “It is the perfect match for him because it meets what we wanted. Rather than that voice of God approach, [Hanks] has a very much, ‘You’re not going to believe this. Come and see this’ approach.”

Hanks previously told PEOPLE the opportunity was one he couldn’t pass on. “I knew that I would be learning an awful lot. I wanted to be on the front line,” he shared.

“I feel lucky to be a part of this extraordinary project — of capturing something that is so real that it’s irrefutable to anybody who watches it. And it’s just glorious to be a part of that,” Hanks added.

The actor ad libs and breaks the fourth wall as he guides viewers on a spell-bounding journey across North and South America. Each episode focuses on the natural beauty of a different terrain, including the Atlantic Coast, Mexico, Wild West, Amazon, Frozen North, Gulf Coast, Andes, Caribbean, West Coast, and Patagonia.

“It’s almost the ultimate safari,” Gunton describes. “If money and time was no object and you wanted to take a journey from the north of this supercontinent, which is basically in the Arctic, all the way across the equator, across the tropics, down into the effectively the South Pole, these are the places we would take you, and these are the stories we would tell you.”

He adds, it’s “an extraordinary journey of a lifetime.”

It took over five years, 180 expeditions, a team of scientists and months of “planning and permissions and logistical backup” to capture 10 different areas across North and South America.

“You still rely a little bit on the Gods smiling on you,” he says. “But I would say of those 180 expeditions, almost all of them were successful because we had done the homework, but also because the science, the scientists, the people in field who we work with, they know the animals. And that’s almost the most important part to have this on-the-ground expertise because they studied these animals sometimes for 30 years, so they know everything about it.”

In addition to the captivating imagery, the combination of Hanks’ funny and insightful narration, the music was composed by Oscar and Grammy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer. “It makes it sound like my life’s easy,” Gunton jokes of snagging Hanks and Zimmer. “It’s not normally. But getting the best musician, the best narrator and the best camera teams on this was not hard because I think they could see what an extraordinary project it was.”

The series spans across the terrain and natural habitats of each location’s inhabitants. From Andean bears (a.k.a. Paddington) going out on a limb (literally) to watching wild horses run free in the Outer Banks, the footage was captured without CGI. “Nothing in here has been created inside the magic of the camera, absolutely nothing at all,” Hanks said.

“You will be enthralled, enlightened, educated and — foremost — entertained,” Hanks promised. He added that the show “deliver remarkable world firsts,” including “new species, new intimate courtship, dramatic deep sea hunting and some of nature’s strangest stories.”

“That’s my favorite part of The Americas — seeing how often all creatures great and small play, occupy their time, keep themselves entertained. Carefree youngsters — cubs, otters, pups, chicks, owls — learning how to do whatever they do for the first time,” he said. “It seems like all of creation seeks some form of contact, affection, and togetherness that is undeniably a part of their behavior.”

For Gunton, he hopes viewers have a “rediscovery and a reappraisal” of “how extraordinary, this marvelous world they inhabit is. How they can realize that actually you can go and see nature doing extraordinary things almost in your backyard.”

“North America, it’s so vast, the landscapes are so huge, it can almost feel immutable,” he adds. “But it’s still fragile. I’m hoping that people will either fall in love or fall back in love with this wonderful land, and want to make sure that it’s there for their kids and their grandkids.”

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The Americas premieres with two back-to-back episodes on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

Source people.com