With the holidays behind us, Michael Bublé is no longer singing about having a merry Christmas. Instead, he remembers a hellish winter scene in which he was almost attacked by a group of polar bears.
The “Home” and “Everything” singer was a guest on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” where Clarkson asked him about his brush with death. Bublé said he had just finished filming the 2003 survival drama “The Snow Walker” and was celebrating with the cast in Churchill, Manitoba, a town along the coast of Hudson Bay in Canada's harsh tundra. . During the wrap party, he and the film's star, Barry Pepper, were drunk and decided to run to the beach.
“And a guy who lived there started insulting us and yelling, I mean, screaming, damn murder,” Bublé said. “We didn't realize we were running towards certain death, because there were polar bears all over the beach.”
“They are the most aggressive… God, but they are so cute,” Bublé joked, causing laughter from the audience. Clarkson referenced the bears from the iconic Coca-Cola commercials.
“Sometimes I wonder how close I came to being like a little polar bear lunch,” he said.
“Snow Walker,” which also starred “Succession” and “LA Confidential” actor James Cromwell, underperformed commercially but found quiet acclaim among critics, particularly for Pepper's performance. Although it was unclear exactly how close Bublé and Pepper came to being attacked, the Canadian singer has not acted on the big screen since. Shortly after, he starred in several small roles in several sitcoms and in an episode of the long-running soap opera “Days of Our Lives.”
After the film, the Burnaby, British Columbia-born singer rose to popularity with his 2005 album, “It's Time.” Two years later, the singer's “Call Me Irresponsible” earned him his first Grammy Award for Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Since then, Bublé has collaborated with a variety of musicians, won several other Grammy and Juno awards, and toured his music around the world.
Bublé also gained popularity for his seasonal serenades. Known as the “King of Christmas,” Bublé told Steven Bartlett, host of the “Diary of a CEO” podcast, that he has been putting his own spin on Christmas classics since long before he became a professional singer.
Last month, the singer announced that he intends to change direction in his career. “I've done the same thing, it's been cyclical,” he told Bartlett. “I feel like I'm at this point in my life, in my career, where I want to do something different.”
Although he plans to continue singing, he added that he feels the “need to express myself in another way,” but did not specify plans or projects.
Maybe it's time for the singer to return to the big screen?
Times staff writer Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report.
