Hong Kong actor Louis Koo is not only known for being super nice and down-to-earth, he’s also a hardworking actor who's dedicated to his craft.

In 2021 alone, Louis, who turned 52 on October 21, released seven movies, five of which he starred in. His latest movie, sci-fi action film Warriors of Future, which he also produced, hit theatres last month.

In the blockbuster film, Louis’s character Tyler has to lead a combat team which is tasked to battle an alien plant in apocalyptic Hong Kong.

It's a physically demanding role with lots of action scenes, but the most difficult part was donning this 15kg armour and filming for long hours in the heat.

So cool, but so painful to wear

During a recent interview, Louis shared that he also injured his cervical spine while filming the movie.  

According to Louis, he always had neck pain but he would brush it off. That was until one day when his right arm suddenly went numb. Then his right leg went numb too. He was so bothered by the pain and numbness that he couldn’t sleep.

Turns out, his condition was a lot worse than imagined.

“The doctor told me, ‘This is very serious. You have injured your nerves. If you continue like this, all your nerves will be dead, and you will be done for’,” said Louis.

The doctor suspected it could have been caused by the heavy armour he wore on the movie pressing down on his nerves and damaging them.

He injured his nerves while filming

As Louis was still in the midst of filming, he could not go for surgery and had to rely on painkillers to ease the pain.

He underwent cervical spine surgery in the United States after filming wrapped and has since recovered.

Painkillers to the rescue

After a video of the interview was released, news of his injury sparked concern among fans.

On Oct 18, Louis took to Facebook to reassure fans that he is fine and that the injury happened years ago when he was filming Warriors of Future.

“I suddenly received a lot of well wishes today, but they were not to wish me happy birthday,” joked the actor. “Don’t worry, actually the headline of the report sounded a little scary. I said in the interview that a few years ago, the doctor said that if I didn’t fix the problem, the nerves would be dead.

"A few years ago, I underwent surgery and added a titanium implant in the neck, and I've since recovered. That’s why I said I am made of steel.”

He's literally got nerves of steel now. Photos: Louis Koo/Facebook