How Parry Shen marked his big return to General Hospital

General Hospital welcomes back Parry Shen

Parry Shen is back on General Hospital as Brad Cooper, bringing his signature sense of humor with him.

The actor appeared on-screen for the first time since 2023 when he met with Terry about returning to General Hospital as an entry-level lab technician. Terry wasn't sure Brad should be allowed back in the hospital's lab after all the bad moves he'd made through the years, so she read over his long litany of crimes.

Brad defended himself the best he could, including his reasoning for switching the dead baby he'd just adopted—who had succumed to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)—with the newborn son of Nelle Benson and Michael Corinthos. After Brad invoked the memory of their deceased mutual friend Britt Westborune, who had believed in second chances, Terry finally agreed to recommend to the hospital's board that Brad be rehired.

As Shen's first scenes aired, the actor took to Twitter to share a cute video of his first day back at work. In the clip, Shen breaks out his selfie stick and his General Hospital ID badge as he heads back to ABC's Prospect Studios in Los Angeles. He finally pulls into the parking lot and is ready for a day of bringing Brad to life.

Shen's GH career began in 2013 when he was cast as a hapless hospital lab technician with a penchant for getting himself in trouble. When Brad fell for Dr. Lucas Jones, the two became a popular pair that got married in 2016 and chose to adopt a baby in 2018. After Wiley was revealed to be Michael's baby in 2019, Lucas and Brad divorced, and Brad was imprisoned for the baby switch, making parole in 2021. However, he has not had his own storyline since Brad's release.

Will Brad bring chaos to General Hospital?

Shen admitted to Soap Opera Digest that he'd expected his first day back to be a breeze rather than having multiple scenes full of dialogue throughout the episode.

"I honestly thought it would be an easy first day. Like essentially a cameo. I’ve returned a few times after having gone off the canvas before and figured it would be a cliffhanger of me at the end of the episode saying something cheeky like, 'Hey, missed me?'" he said. "And then the following episode would be where all the dialogue would come. Wrong! Twenty pages of dialogue off the bat addressing all his questionable behavior for the past decade, talking about Britt, and asking for a second chance to work at the hospital. Which was great – you want to have something to sink your teeth into and I was given plenty right out of the gates!"

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So, what can fans expect from Brad this time around? Shen didn't reveal too much but had a warning. "Buckle up for the shenanigans that only Brad can bring!" he said.

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.

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