General Hospital’s Maurice Benard and Rena Sofer Reflect On What Could Have Been Between Sonny and Lois — and Still Could Be
It “would have been an interesting story.”
You can learn a lot about a person by looking at their childhood. Sonny’s early life was full of abuse, violence and abandonment. So it’s not hard to see how General Hospital’s top don turned into the shady, but still somehow goodhearted character he is.
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Growing up wasn’t all bad, though, as we learned when we met Lois, an old friend from back in Bensonhurst. When she showed up in Port Charles, we got a glimpse into who Sonny was before he got mixed up in the seedier side of life. But only a glimpse.
By the time she arrived on our screens, Sonny’s path of crime was set, and while it was nice to see the camaraderie between him, Brenda and Lois, it could have, Rena Sofer noted on a recent State of Mind episode, been done a bit better.
“The thing that General Hospital never took advantage of,” Lois’ portrayer noted, was the idea that “these two people grew up together. And I don’t know who else has played Lois and how they did it. The problem is, we had a history and we had two characters that had massive personalities that should have had a more connected history.”
History can be tough to get right (just ask the fans about Carly and her mixed up Florida past!), especially in a character’s early days. And back when we first met Lois, Sonny was still a fairly fresh face in Port Charles.
Despite growing up with Sonny, Lois was still a bit taken a back when Brenda confessed that she thought her beau was a mobster. And even though they were old friends, Lois joined Ned in convincing Sonny’s love to wear a wire. That may not quite be how Sofer would have played it.
“The thing about Sonny when I was on the show,” she noted, “is he wasn’t beholden to anyone. But it would have been interesting if in some past of theirs, he was beholden to Lois and that Lois was almost his good angel on his shoulder.”
That’s something Sonny could have used many times over the years — heck it’s something he could use right now! His torture of Dex was a particularly dark moment, and there’s no way this war bubbling over between him and Michael can end in anything but heartbreak.
Plus, she added, maybe “when Sonny would fall apart at times, he would show up on Lois’ door and be like ‘I need my good angel.’ Or ‘I need my something’ that Lois would be like, ‘I’m gonna drop everything. I know what you need. Sit down.’ And then she’d bring out a big bowl of pasta and she’d go, ‘Alright, what do you need?’”
One thing we’ll say is they certainly knew how to do cast photos back in the day!
Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection (2)
Having a good angel on his shoulder to pull him back from the brink and feed him pasta during his darkest days is something that could make all the difference in the world for Sonny. And, really, it’s not too late!
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Now that she’s left Bold & Beautiful, Sofer is a free agent again. And she did mention that she’s talked about returning to General Hospital and the Brooklyn gal she helped create. Maybe it’s time for Lois to stop by Port Charles again, check in on her daughter and her ex, and give Sonny a good sharp knock on the head.
Well, fans can dream, right?
While we wait with bated breath to see if Lois makes her return, check out our photo gallery of all the actors headed for General Hospital.
Video: YouTube/State of Mind
