Rena Sofer on ‘GH’ Drama, Lois’ Secret and Working With Ex Wally Kurth (EXCLUSIVE)
Soap star who recently remarried her husband also opens up about dream of semi-retiring
As her General Hospital character Lois Cerullo hustles to keep Brook Lynn, Gio and the rest of Port Charles from learning the truth, Rena Sofer gets personal with Woman’s World about coming home to the Quartermaine manse after 27 years away.
The Daytime Emmy-winner with a roster of primetime roles that range from Seinfeld to NCIS gets candid about how she feels about Lois’ surprising secret, what it’s like to work with her real life and onscreen ex-husband Wally Kurth again, and whether she thinks her character needs some romance. (Hint: Paging Mr. Clooney!)
Sofer, who got her start on the soap operas Loving and Another World and spent almost a decade on The Bold and the Beautiful, also reveals she’s ready to head east and “semi-retire.”
‘GH’ star Rena Sofer talks Lois’ deception involving Brook Lynn’s son, Gio
When General Hospital executive producer Frank Valentini reached out to Rena Sofer about resuming the role she created in 1993 and earned a Daytime Emmy for in 1995, she was thrilled to come back for a visit. A year and a half later, Lois is still getting into the drama as one of the Faces of Deception—in more ways than one!
“Frank made it so easy, seamless, and amazing,” Sofer says of returning. “And I love that Lois has stayed true to who she is. Then he came up with this really cool story about her daughter having a child when she was a teenager and the fallout of that. I’ve been on board for it ever since.”
It turns out Lois didn’t just set up an adoption for her daughter Brook Lynn—she secretly gave the baby Dante never knew he fathered to her late cousin, Camila. With young Gio now living in the Quartermaine manse, the Bensonhurst babe who once ran from the Q’s scheming ways is suddenly racing to hide her own well-intended machination.
“What’s interesting about this story is the shoe is kind of on the other foot, but this is not who she is and it’s not about the Quartermaines. Her big fear is losing her daughter,” says Sofer, who has three girls of her own. “If anyone has children, they’ll understand. You do the best you can for your kids, at the time… and guarantee those kids will grow up and say they’re in therapy because of the way you did that thing!”
‘GH’ star Rena Sofer is both excited and scared for the truth about Gio to drop
After a slow build and false leads that led to much speculation among fans, this story is catching fire—and Sofer admits she’s both excited and nervous for her character’s lie to finally come to light
“I do scenes with people and I’m like, ‘When this all comes out, you’re not gonna hate me, right?’” she says. “They’re like, ‘What are you talking about?’ It’s just that nobody ever hates me, and now I’m gonna be that pariah! It feels weird that people are going to be mad at Lois and I’m going to have to play all that.”
Thankfully, Sofer gets to play it with Amanda Sutton and Giovanni Mazza, who play Brook Lynn and Gio.
“Amanda’s amazing, and we have a very fun connection that feels very mother to daughter,” Sofer shares. “We understand each other in so many ways. And then Gio is probably one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet. He’s just so kind and adorable. I am excited for him and this amazing storyline he gets to play—because it’s going to be a lot!”
‘GH’ star Rena Sofer talks ex Wally Kurth and ‘B&B’ hunk Lawrence St. Victor
Beyond how this affects Brook Lynn, Gio, and Dante, Lois will have to contend with the grandparents. That means the actress can expect to get into it with her old General Hospital pal Maurice Benard, who plays Sonny, as well as her on and off-screen ex-husband, Wally Kurth—who plays Brook Lynn’s father, Ned, and is also the father to Sofer’s daughter, Rosabel.
“It’s always strange to work with someone that you were married to, but coming back and working with Wally has been great,” Sofer confides. “We’ve been able to really just enjoy it.”
With plenty of history and co-parenting to play, the one story Sofer and Kurth were not game for was a romantic reunion of their ‘90s super couple. So far, however, there’s been no romance for Lois, at all—and the actress is not complaining.
“I don’t really miss doing love stories and love scenes,” Sofer considers. “And I feel like the last love scenes I did with Laurence St. Victor [on The Bold and the Beautiful] were as hot as it’s ever going to be for me, again… unless I do, like, the nursing home love story!”
“I keep pitching a stunt cast where somebody shows up at the house—let’s say, George Clooney, because why not?” she cracks. “He knocks on the Quartermaine door and says, ‘Hey, Lois, when are you coming home? You’ve been here too long.’ Then we’ll know that she hasn’t been sitting here pining over Ned this whole time, right?”
‘GH’ star Rena Sofer is in ‘the honeymoon phase’ after remarrying Sanford Brooksaver
When 56-year-old Sofer adds that she’s had her “days of being sexy,” a voice chimes in from the background.
“My husband just said, ‘You’re always sexy,’” Sofer confides with a sweet giggle, referring to Sanford Bookstaver—the director/producer she married in 2003, divorced in 2017, reconciled with in 2019 and then remarried last May. “We’re still in the honeymoon phase.”
The newlywed, who shares a daughter, Avalon, with Brookstaver, is working on selling their Los Angeles home so they can make a big move to the east coast.
“When we got divorced, I had no interest in dating, so I opened my life to a bunch of different things,” she says. “Now, we kinda want to semi-retire, so my bucket list is building a home that we don’t have to ever leave if we don’t want to. There will be a big studio downstairs for my woodworking and ceramics, and a dog room so we’re able to foster and keep our animals and give them space outside.”
‘GH’ star Rena Sofer and Vanessa Marcil are all about the dogs
Back when Sofer was single and exploring new creative outlets, she fell unexpectedly and madly in love with a dog her daughter asked her to adopt. Today, she’s got six and counting at home, and her passion for supporting dog shelters and adoptions has brought her closer to her old General Hospital costar Vanessa Marcil—who played Lois’ equally fiery L&B partner, Brenda.
“We’ve had years go by where we hadn’t spoken, just because life got busy, but we have an incredible amount of respect for each other and camaraderie and absolute female love,” Sofer says of Marcil. “We love acting and creating characters, but that’s not our focus in life. We talk about our kids, dogs, the state of the world… I think that’s why we’re friends. We inspire each other, and that’s the best kind of friendship you can have.”
Having recently teamed up for a social media campaign to save a mom and her eight pups, they are committed to making a difference.
“At our appearances, we do raffles and the proceeds will go to either a local shelter or one of the ones we support,” she says. “If we can, we also visit a shelter or go for a run with the dogs. You can feel so helpless in this world, especially now, so it’s great to be able to do something good.”
‘GH’ Rena Sofer wraps indie movie with soap stars Walt Willey and Tuc Watkins
Sofer may be talking about “semi-retirement,” but she’s still enjoying the work. The actress just had a blast shooting the indie murder mystery Death on the Brandywine with All My Children alum Walt Willey and One Life to Live alum Tuc Watkins.
And once she’s made the big move east and builds her dream house, she’ll still be game to get into the drama as General Hospital’s Lois or even The Bold and the Beautiful’s Quinn.
“I would be open to anything and everything,” she promises.
In the meantime, Sofer is preparing to hang out with Vanessa Marcil and soap opera fans at a host of upcoming appearances (see her Instagram for dates)—and Lois is prepared to do whatever she can to keep Gio, Brook Lynn, Dante, and grandparents Olivia, Sonny, and Ned from learning Gio’s true parentage on General Hospital.
“It’s going to come to a head… in horrible, horrible ways,” Sofer promises Woman’s World with a sigh. “Lois did what she thought was best for everyone concerned, but she’s got a lot of explaining to do!”
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