Simu Liu said he danced through the pain during Ryan Gosling‘s “I’m Just Ken” performance at the 2024 Oscars.
The actor shared during a recent appearance on Today With Hoda & Jenna that his torn Achilles tendon hadn’t completely healed, but knew he didn’t want to miss the “pretty surreal” Kens reunion on the Academy Awards stage Sunday night. Liu starred as one of the Kens in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
“I’m like four months into recovering from Achilles surgery, but I’m powering through it because I’m like, ‘I feel like this is going to be a historic moment that I never would forgive myself if I wasn’t a part of,’ the Arthur the King actor said.
Liu added, “I definitely was like, ‘Should I be doing this?’ I was talking to my [physical therapist] and he’s like, ‘Ehhhh’ but I was like, ‘Whatever, I’m going to do it.’ But it came together quite quickly. Ryan has such a specific vision for what he wanted. And it was a perfect moment.”
The actor revealed on Instagram in October that he tore his Achilles tendon during an “ultimate friends sports weekend” and was using crutches at the time. According to the Mayo Clinic, it can take up to six months to return to normal activity following an injury, and sometimes longer.
He later detailed to People magazine what led to the injury, saying he invited 20 of his closest friends to Miami for an “Olympic-style tournament of sports.” And once they got to the basketball game, that’s when things turned for the worse.
“All of a sudden I feel like someone has either shot me or kicked my shin out from underneath me or just barreled into me,” he told the outlet. “I’m like, ‘Who hit me?’ Everyone’s looking at me and they’re like, ‘Dude, nobody hit you.’ And it was at that moment that I knew that my Achilles was torn, and I went to urgent care right away.”
Throughout award season, Liu has been seen on red carpets with a brace on his leg. But he admitted that it was still worth it to get the opportunity to join the “I’m Just Ken” Oscars performance.
He added, “It was such a great way to wrap up the entire experience for us.”
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