General Hospital’s Parry Shen Reveals What Working With the New Lucas Was Like

Parry Shen explained that he and new Lucas, Van Hansis, hit it off right away, and how he filled the newcomer in on character history.

General Hospital's Parry Shen opened up about his immediate connection with Van Hansis.Photo bySoap Hub

Parry Shen’s return to General Hospital has been long overdue. His character, Brad, had previously been married to Lucas. But Brad’s misdeeds, which involved a tragic baby swap, put the kibosh on their relationship. Recently, Lucas also returned to Port Charles and told Brad in no uncertain terms that he wanted nothing to do with him. Shen recently described playing Brad alongside Lucas’ new portrayer, Van Hansis.

READ THIS: Check out what’s coming up on GH.

He’s Got a Good Work Ethic

Hansis is no stranger to soap operas, having played Luke Snyder on As the World Turns from 2005 to 2010. He worked his way through several projects until landing at GH as a recast of Lucas. Brad and Lucas had a good thing going until it was revealed that Brad swapped their dead baby with that of Nelle’s (Chloe Lanier) very alive baby. Subsequently, Lucas divorced him in 2020.

So far, Shen has loved working with Hansis. He told Soap Opera Digest they found immediate common ground, bonding over which comic book artists they follow on Instagram. Right away, Hansis asked Shen to bring him up to speed on Lucas and Brad’s erstwhile relationship.

READ THIS: Find out when GH’s baby swap involving Lucas and Brad was revealed

Because Hansis was so enthusiastic about learning as much history about the characters as he could, Shen was blown away. “I was already impressed with his work ethic,” Shen explained, adding that he wasn’t taken aback because “I’d done my homework on him once I found out he was cast and had watched clips of his work as Luke on As The World Turns and on EastSiders.” He jokingly followed that up with, “I’m an incredibly thorough cyber stalker.”

Brad’s Evolved

Shen stated that he filled Hansis in on the chronology of Brad and Lucas’ relationship. He even went into detail about its complex nature, as well as their characters’ relationships with other Port Charles denizens. He explained, “It’s a daunting amount of history to process since Lucas is connected to so many people. And I know Van used all those pieces of info (from other cast members as well) to formulate how he wanted to approach the character accordingly.”

When the two characters met after quite a bit of time passed, Shen made sure that Brad came across as contrite for all of his misdeeds but still felt something for Lucas. He wanted to ensure that Lucas understood Brad was working on being a better person. Shen felt that Brad and Lucas were far from reconciliation but stated that Brad could prove his worth to his former love with “Deeds, not words. I feel Brad knows his actions must show he’s a changed person or at least trying to change.” (Find out if fans want Brad and Lucas to reunite.)