John Wick has faced an unexpected adversary

During his appearance on The Late Show on Monday, Keanu Reeves recounted the harrowing experience of injuring his knee earlier this year while on the set of Aziz Ansari’s upcoming comedy, Good Fortune.

Reeves, who was filming a scene with Aziz Ansari and Seth Rogen, described a seemingly innocent moment that quickly turned painful. “I was in a cold plunge after finishing a scene,” Reeves explained. “I was enjoying the cold plunge, and after we wrapped, I was doing the cold shuffle, which involves walking around with a bathing suit and a towel over your head.”

The simple shuffle took a dramatic turn when Reeves’ foot caught in a pocket of the protective carpet. “My foot got stuck, and as I fell, my knee didn’t follow,” he recounted. “It was like a slow-motion fall. My knee hit the ground hard, and my patella cracked like a potato chip.” The audience reacted with a horrified gasp at the vivid description of his injury.

Reeves admitted he didn’t realize the severity of his injury until he noticed his knee swelling up afterward. “Comedy’s hard, man,” he quipped.

The injury was first documented in January when Reeves was seen using crutches and an ice pack on set. Ansari, who wrote and directed the film, later revealed at CinemaCon in April that Reeves had fractured his kneecap about 15 days into shooting. Ansari praised Reeves for his dedication, noting that he continued to film despite the injury, except for some salsa dancing scenes that were postponed for recovery.

“He was eager to do the salsa dancing,” Ansari shared. “But we had to tell him, ‘Keanu, calm down. We’ll handle the salsa once your knee’s healed.’”