Disney/Christine Bartolucci
Reunited And It Feels So Good: Travolta (c.) was thrilled to work with Rena Sofer (Lois, l.) again and to meet on-screen granddaughter Amanda Setton (Brook Lynn).
Ellen Travolta owes the surprise gift of her return to GENERAL HOSPITAL to her on-screen daughter, Rena Sofer (Lois). When the pair worked together during Travolta’s original recurring run as Gloria (1994-96), “Rena and I hit it off amazingly well; she’s just an absolutely fabulous young woman,” says Travolta fondly. “We’ve stayed in touch, and I got a call from her some weeks ago saying, ‘I have to tell you something: I’m going back to GENERAL HOSPITAL.’ She said, ‘I want you to be back with me!’ I said, ‘Well, honey, that’s nice.’ She asked me, ‘Would you consider it?’ I said, ‘Of course I would! That would be lovely.’ A few days later, she called me back and said, ‘I told them you were interested.’ I said, ‘Well, good, that’s lovely.’ And in the back of my mind, I thought, ‘This is never going to happen! She’s not even on contract, and she’s telling them how she wants it to be done?’ But that’s what I love about her! She’s a very upfront woman: ‘This is what I want.’ Anyway, a few weeks later, I get a call and they’re wanting me to come on the show! And I said, ‘Okay, that would be great fun!’ ”
The Idaho-based actress bunked with Sofer when she traveled to Los Angeles to tape her string of episodes, which begin airing on Thursday, November 23. Travolta reports, “Rena said, ‘You cannot stay anywhere else!’ I said, ‘Are you sure?’ She said, ‘Absolutely, and I live very close to the studio.’ So, I did stay with her. I had a wonderful time when I flew down and stayed with Rena in her house with her lovely husband, Sandy [Bookstaver], who was a fabulous cook. They just wined and dined me and took care of me. They’re just a wonderful family. I felt like grandma was coming home [laughs]!” Mixing business with pleasure, “Rena and I worked on our lines in the evenings. It was a lot [of dialogue], so we would spend a couple of hours going through our lines. I was just completely immersed! I lived and breathed GENERAL HOSPITAL for those four days I was there.”
Though it had been nearly 30 years since she’d set foot in Port Charles, “The minute I walked on that set and saw Wally [Kurth, Ned] and one of the stage managers I’d known before, one of the camera people I’d known before, it was like no time had passed,” Travolta marvels. “It’s the same studio, which is also where I’d done WELCOME BACK, KOTTER years and years ago. So I had this feeling of nostalgia and comfort and I felt that I was being welcomed, that they were pleased and very happy that I was there. The wardrobe people, the hair and makeup people — everyone couldn’t have been nicer. Doing GENERAL HOSPITAL was such a treat, such a gift.”
In addition to strengthening her bond with Sofer, Travolta quickly developed an affection for her on-screen granddaughter, Amanda Setton (Brook Lynn). “Rena had said to me, ‘You know what? You’re gonna love her like you loved me because I love her like you loved me!’ And I said, ‘Okay!’ Well, she is an absolutely beautiful, fabulous young woman. Very bright, very committed. Her personal life is very important to her and she honors it. She’s just lovely and a wonderful actress and the three of us just connected. There was a rhythm to us; we fit each other, and we all fit into that rhythm. I just love the Cerullos because they’re so different from the Quartermaines, you know? I mean, Gloria brings a covered dish [when she comes to someone’s home]. I remember years ago on the show, I would always bring a covered dish and [the Quartermaines] would look at me like that was something odd. But that was not only Gloria’s [way], but part of my own growing up. So I just loved playing this character and working with Rena and Amanda. And I can’t say enough how well the writers wrote for us. I mean, they really got the relationship and the tenor of the language. I was so impressed! And it also impresses me that this particular storyline held, and the interest was still there. I mean, Wally’s still on the show and in so many different storylines, and to get Rena to come back, and have Rena then ask for me to come back, is really quite amazing.”
Travolta managed her heavy dialogue load and the notoriously fast pace of production on the show with aplomb. Admits the 84-year-old actress, “It was a lot of work and a lot of words and I didn’t want to screw it up. I wanted to feel good and I wanted Rena to be proud and to be glad that she asked for me to come back. When you get someone in my age group here, [it’s], ‘Will they make it? Will they be okay? Are they gonna get through it?’ And I don’t think I held anything up! I think I was right there. We buzzed through everything and I think everybody was pleased. I felt really good and proud of myself, and of Rena for asking for me and for them to say yes.”
Disney/Christine Bartolucci
