General Hospital's Parry Shen reveals hilarious acting secret

Every time a viewer realizes Brad is on an episode of General Hospital, they know they’re in for a treat. Parry Shen always delivers an enjoyable performance, especially with Brad’s sardonic wit and goofy demeanor. When he turns it on, Shen can appear like a modern-day Don Knotts, especially when he’s worried that his life could be over both figuratively and literally. The actor recently shared a funny social media post that shows how much thought he puts into his performances.

He steeled himself

Shen posted a clip from General Hospital on Instagram in which Portia (Brook Kerr) orders Brad to get her a vial of ketamine or else he’ll lose his job. “If somebody finds me with ketamine, I could get fired,” he nervously stated, to which his boss replied, “Well then you better not let them because if you don't do what I'm asking you to do, you're definitely gonna get fired.” Brad hilariously retorted, “Pardon my language, but this new arrangement of ours suuuuucks.” She then insinuated that he should gird his loins for the task with the reply, “Well then, you better pucker up, Brad.” (Is Brad pushing Portia too far?)

Above the video was “How to fit 5 U’s into the word ‘Sucks.’ ” In his caption, the actor hysterically revealed, “It’s a skill honed by decades of looking at a word and then thinking, ‘🤔 Hmm. I bet I can more than double or even triple the number of times that letter should appear.’ ” In character, Kerr’s response was, “Stressing me to the ends of the Earth.” Shen reacted to that with a crying-laughing emoji.

Some Brad frustration

General Hospital's Brad. | Image Source: ABC

One fan, @rilee63, loved Portia’s response: “@brookkerr ‘Well then, you better pucker up, Brad’...comeback comment of the year 🙌😚😅😅.” @lovelykitten1990 had a very insightful question, asking, “Did the script for this episode actually call for you to elongate the word ‘sucks’ that way? Or was that something you improvised on your own? Or maybe the director asked for that; just curious.”

The General Hospital star responded, “@lovelykitten1990 Great question — it was just the word ‘sucks’. But whenever I delved into Brad’s circumstances while working on the lines, it always just felt ‘right’ to say it like that - lined with pure ‘Brad’ frustration.”

Many fans stated that they rewatched the scene several times due to its hilarity, with @cinnamongirl111 commenting, “I loooooved it! I had re-watched you a few extra times lol - perfect delivery 👏 🏆.” (Learn how Drew is manipulating Portia.)

You can watch new episodes of General Hospital on ABC and Hulu.