Robin Roberts is lending support to her Good Morning America co-anchor and friend Will Reeve as he embarks on a personal new journey.
Fresh off a BAFTA win for Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, 32-year-old Will is debuting a new ABC special titled Will Reeve: Finding My Father.
In the special, Will retraces the steps of his late father Christopher Reeve on his final expedition, 1995’s In the Wild: Gray Whales with Christopher Reeve, as he charted the Pacific gray whale migration from the Arctic to Mexico, months before the horseback riding accident that paralyzed him.
The special is slated to air on ABC on February 26, and ahead of its debut, Will sat down with the anchors of GMA to give what they deemed a “15-second elevator pitch to watch” the documentary.
“I reconnect with my father in a way I didn’t know was possible, learned more about him in a way that has fulfilled me, hopefully for the rest of my life,” Will responds before turning to his co-workers and in particular Robin, who acts as an executive producer on the special.
“And I’m so grateful to you for executive producing, and to all of you for loving me. And I love you back,” he sweetly added, which touched Robin greatly. When asked for comment, she was too lost for words simply deferring to her co-anchors.
Christopher spent the major part of his later life serving as an activist and champion for environmental and human rights causes following the success from his turn in the Superman movies and on Broadway.
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In 1995, he was thrown from a horse and was paralyzed from the neck down, using a wheelchair and ventilator for the rest of his life. He became an advocate for spinal cell injury research and founded the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 52.
Will penned an emotional and moving essay for ABC News about his father and his journey to rediscover some of the last moments of joy and exploration Christopher experienced before his accident.
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“The world knows my dad as Superman, and as the face of spinal cord injury — a heroic figure fighting for others and for himself,” he wrote. “Many have also learned more about him and our family in a recent award-winning theatrical documentary, Super/Man: the Christopher Reeve Story. But there’s still more to the story, still more to the man.”
© Getty ImagesHe added: “It has been my mission for years now to find a way to show the world the Christopher Reeve on display in that hourlong nature documentary and to use the 30-year-old film as an entry point into the void I’ve had in me since he was injured and since he’s been gone.”
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© Getty Images“What I discovered by going to San Ignacio Lagoon and St. Lawrence Island and meeting the remarkable people there, and seeing the gray whales on their journey, and taking a camera and an open heart with me defies comprehension. I left with a better understanding of myself and of my dad; of the natural world and of humanity. Of how they all connect through space and time.”