Simu Liu performs ‘I’m Just Ken’.Photo:Kevin Winter/Getty
Kevin Winter/Getty
Simu Liu was dancing through the pain at Sunday’sAcademy Awards, sharing that his torn Achilles tendon still hadn’t healed during an appearance onToday with Hoda & Jenna.
Liu, who played one of the Kens in the smash hitBarbiemovie, joined main KenRyan Goslingon stage at the Academy Awards for a rendition of the nominated song,“I’m Just Ken.”
But as Liu, 34, told hostsHoda KotbandJenna Bush Hager, he was still suffering the effects of his foot injury.
“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,’ Liu shared.
“The Achilles tendon is a strong fibrous cord that connects the muscles in the back of your calf to your heel bone,” theMayo Clinicexplains, adding that after an injury, it can take up to six months to return to normal activity but “some problems can persist for up to a year.”
Rich Polk/Variety via Getty
But as Liu said, “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.”
Liutore his Achilles tendonin October during a sports-packed getaway with friends. “Basically, I had this crazy idea to bring 20 of my friends to Miami —half from my Canadian sideand half from the American side, and to pit them against each other in an Olympic-style tournament of sports," Liutold PEOPLE.
They’d planned back-to-back games of basketball and volleyball — the latter of which went well.
But when theShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsstar took the court for the basketball face-off, something went wrong. “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 PEOPLE.
“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.”
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He’s been attendingred carpet events with a brace on his leg, but as for dancing the night away as Ken No. 2 at the Academy Awards, Liu says it was worth it.
“I mean, the entire song is, ‘Doesn’t really matter what I do / I’m always No. 2.,' " he said onToday.
“So I think that song really actually applies to me, more than it does Ken,” Liu continued. “So I have a personal connection to ‘I’m Just Ken.’ "
source: people.com
