General Hospital's Rena Sofer Insisted Ellen Travolta Reprise Her Gloria Cerullo Role

Not only were "General Hospital" fans completely ecstatic when Rena Sofer returned to reprise her role as Lois Cerullo, but they were doubly over the moon when it was announced that Ellen Travolta would also be coming back to once again play Lois' mom, Gloria Cerullo, just in time for Thanksgiving in Port Charles. Wally Kurth, who plays Lois' ex-husband Ned Quartermaine, told Soap Opera Digest on November 20, "Gloria Cerullo is back and better than ever! Ellen was great and looks fantastic. She's just a ball of fire and added so much energy." Very happy with her return and the storyline, he remarked, "The audience is going to love these scenes."

Travolta was last seen on the sudser in 1996, and her most recent project was the Hallmark film, "Haul Out the Holly," in 2022 — a part that she nabbed with the help of her youngest brother, John Travolta. On the official "GH" X page, formerly known as Twitter, the show posted a trailer that gave us a very brief glimpse of Gloria's glorious return, and one fan enthusiastically responded, "It's Ellen Travolta back as Lois' mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

In an interview posted on November 19, Travolta told The Spokesman-Review, "Out of the blue Rena Sofer called and said 'Would you come back (to "General Hospital") if they asked you?'" Clearly, her answer was affirmative, and Sofer had a major hand in making her return happen.

The Spokesman-Review also reported that Rena Sofer's return to "General Hospital" was conditional, as she explained, "As soon as we made the deal, I said to the executive producer, 'You have to bring Ellen Travolta back.' If you think the fans are going to enjoy me being back, you have to bring this woman back." Sofer admitted that wanting to work with Travolta again was "selfish," as she noted, "I haven't seen her in so long. I missed her. She is the mother of my dreams," adding that she wished Travolta was her real mother.

Soap Opera Digest published an interview with Travolta on November 22 in which she explained her reaction after she got the call from Sofer. "A few days later, she called me back and said, 'I told them you were interested.' I said, 'Well, good, that's lovely.'" Considering Sofer is not on contract, Travolta didn't hold out high hopes for the reprisal, but then was thrilled when the show called her, asking her to return.

Travolta also got the royal treatment, as Sofer insisted she stay with her and her husband Sandy Bookstaver, who cooked fabulous meals for them. When she finally got to the studio, Travolta remarked, "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."