Talking clearly is an important part of acting, so when General Hospital star Parry Shen (Brad Cooper) realized that a lifelong oral issue could begin to affect his speech and diction, he knew he needed to do something about it.
As the actor explains on social media, he recently opted to have surgery to remove bony growths he's had under his tongue, called torus mandibularis. The extra bone growth appears on the mouth-side of the lower jaw, near the tongue.
"I want to get them removed because I think that they might, or they will, start affecting my speech at some point, and I've found myself forcing myself to articulate better -- which is not a bad thing, but I am interested to see what happens when I remove them," Shen explains in a video that includes clips before and after his surgery.
The before-surgery bits show the actor performing a tongue-twister so he could document his journey and "gauge any improvement" when he attempted the rhymes post-surgery. That is followed by some after-surgery clips in which Shen attempts to speak and recite the same tongue-twister -- but has great difficulty doing so.
"I just had the surgery and I have Novocain in my mouth. And they're gone," he shares. "I've got hiccups, though, from the anesthesia. I do have numb tongue. I can't feel my lips. I can't feel my tongue. Okay, maybe we should do this a little bit later. It's only been like 15 minutes."
Shen promises to continue his tongue twister experiment after he's fully healed, which he says should be in one to two weeks. In the meantime, he reports, "So far, so good on the recovery. And really cool to have more movement in my mouth."
Check out Shen's video below and let us know what you think in our Comments section at the end of the article.
Removed my "Tori" (aka Torus Mandibularis" - extra bone under my tongue I've had all my life. In recent years have felt it was beginning to impede on my diction - so tried some tongue twisters to gauge any improvement. Experiment will continue next week when I'm fully healed. pic.twitter.com/1lCNBisGmm
- Parry Shen (@parryshen) July 20, 2022
Parry Shen took on the role of GH's Brad in 2013. Some of his other credits include Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, NCIS: Los Angeles, Brothers & Sisters, Criminal Minds, and Thief. He has also voiced characters in video games such as Ghost of Tsushima, Exos Heroes, Legends of Runeterra, Magic: The Gathering Arena, Mortal Kombat X, and The Walking Dead: Michonne.
What do you think about Parry Shen electing to have his torus mandibularis removed? Would you like to send the actor a get-well message? We want to hear from you -- and there are many ways you can share your thoughts.
