Parry Shen Talks Brad Cooper’s General Hospital Mob Connections

While many General Hospital viewers were taken by surprise to learn that Brad Cooper is related to the infamous Wu crime family — specifically Selina Wu, actor Parry Shen reveals that familial connection and background were established long ago.

Parry Shen on Brad’s Crime Family Ties

During a General Hospital Fantasy Events Zoom, GH viewers got the chance to ask Shen and co-star Kelly Thiebaud (Britt Westbourne) questions, and one that came was asking the actor when did he learn about his character’s mob family ties.

“It actually was introduced a while ago,” admitted the actor. “And I know exactly [when] because I’m a dork. I keep a spreadsheet of every single [General Hospital] episode I’ve done so I can look at the synopsis at what’s going on. So it happened in 2013, December 15. I got a script and that’s when I met Lucas [Jones] and we both start talking and we start connecting because we find out that he’s from a mob family [his biological father is Julian Jerome] and I said yeah and I kind of throw it aside, I’m from a mob family too.

“The Wus, I was adopted,” he continued. “They were part of the Asian Quarter, so when I got that script…I mean, I have a familiarity with the GH history so I knew enough of what that meant so as soon as that went in, I know that a lot of the people who read that script were like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re connected to a badass family’ and they were excited. I remember telling Finola [Hughes, Anna Devane] about it because Finola was connected with that storyline in the ’80s. I went, ‘Hey Finola, I’m one of the Wus.’ And she was like, ‘Oh my gosh! That’s freaking amazing!’ And she didn’t say freaking,” he added, laughing. “She said something else.” Shen and Thiebaud both laughed at that.

“Then I saw Lydia [Look, Selina Wu] come on,” he shared excitedly. “Around 2015-ish, you know like small part, playing Mrs. Wu, and I’m like oh my gosh, she’s somehow related to me, so I was excited to see something happening but then, the writing regime changed and detoured that storyline. I think it’s come back because a lot of the writers now were like, ‘Hey, that was kind of set up so let’s go with that. So yeah, I’ve known for a long time.”

General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Port Charles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on GH spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

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