Simu Liu Reveals How He Tore His Achilles: 'I Had This Crazy Idea' (Exclusive)

This superhero is slowing down — for now.

In PEOPLE's 2023 Sexiest Man Alive issue, Simu Liu details how he tore his Achilles during a recent getaway with his pals.

"Basically, I had this crazy idea to bring 20 of my friends to Miami — half from my Canadian side and half from the American side, and to pit them against each other in an Olympic-style tournament of sports," says Liu, 34, who planned back-to-back volleyball and basketball games for the group.

Volleyball went off without a hitch — but as he was dribbling the ball down the court during 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 says.

"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."

Despite his injury, Liu rallied the rest of the weekend, "yelling and screaming for the rest of the events" from the sidelines.

While the star has always loved sports and being active, he's taking the unexpected downtime in stride.

"I firmly believe that with every door closing, there's other doors that open, and I think this to me is a reminder to really lean into the other parts of my life that I've grown very passionate about," says Liu, who's dropping an E.P. this month. "I already told my record label I want someone to come in and teach me guitar every day. I want to play video games with my friends. I really just want to take this as a self-healing period of time."

Adds the star: "I'm also really excited to walk, don't get me wrong. But I know it's all a part of the process and I'm ready to lean into it."

On Halloween, Liu dressed up as Aaron Rodgers — who also tore his Achilles last month — by wearing a New York Jets T-shirt, carrying a football and showing off the cast on his right foot.

"Ya boy went a little too method this halloween," he joked in the caption. "I know this might seem like a very low-effort costume on the surface but i assure you the commitment was absolute. i got the stitches to prove it!"