While Finola Hughes recently celebrated 40 years as the iconic Anna Devane on General Hospital, her journey to daytime stardom began on the big screen. Before becoming a household name, Hughes made her feature film debut in the 1983 dance musical Staying Alive, the highly anticipated sequel to the 1977 blockbuster Saturday Night Fever.
The film saw John Travolta reprising his role as Tony Manero, with Rocky creator Sylvester Stallone, then at the height of his fame, stepping in to direct. Hughes recalls an early morning audition where she learned the choreography before reading and dancing with Travolta himself. With Stallone present, the decision was immediate. “Sly was there, and then they sort of said, ‘Yeah, you’ve got the role,’” Hughes recalls. “They told me right there.”
Her reaction to landing the part of Laura was understated, much to the crew’s surprise. “I just went, ‘Oh, thank you,’” she says. “And they were like, ‘Is that all?’ They expected me to sort of jump up and down… I think I said something like, ‘Oh well, I’m English.’ But I remember being so happy.”
As a newcomer in Los Angeles for the first time, Hughes found a crucial ally in Travolta. “He was the sweetest,” she raves. “He was so supportive and so kind and kind of took me under his wing because I’d never been to Hollywood. He really looked after me.” This support extended beyond the set. “Even when we were filming in New York, he took me out. We went to Studio 54… I did feel like I was looked after in that respect.”
Hughes also credits Stallone’s spontaneous directing style with helping her navigate her first film role. “He was fantastic,” she reports. “He likes things to be spontaneous, and I think that was good for me because I didn’t know how to do that… I had no idea what I was doing, and they understood that they were working with a complete newbie.”
This supportive environment helped shield Hughes from the immense pressure of starring in a sequel to a cultural phenomenon. “I was kind of blind to all that,” she explains. While she acknowledges the high stakes, she says the pressure was mitigated by extensive preparation, including six weeks of rehearsals before filming even began.
The film’s premieres provided their own set of challenges for the unprepared newcomer. For the Hollywood event at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Hughes recalls a wardrobe crisis solved by Sylvester Stallone’s then-wife, Sasha Czack. “I didn’t have anything to wear, so Sasha took me into her wardrobe and I wore one of her dresses,” Hughes reveals.
In New York, she felt out of her depth compared to co-star Cindy Rhodes, who “had two dresses made” for the premieres. Hughes, in contrast, wore a vintage top she had bought herself. “I wasn’t really prepared for any of that,” she says. “I didn’t have a publicist and an agent.”
The London premiere, however, was a personal highlight. “It was really cool because I got to bring my dad and my brother,” she says, once again praising Travolta for his generosity. “He’s just a stand-up guy, that one. I can’t say enough good about him.”
Though Staying Alive was met with largely negative reviews upon release, it has since achieved cult status. Hughes is candid about her own performance at the time. “I think my acting sucked,” she muses. “I was up for a Razzie Award, which I now know is kind of in good standing.”
Despite the initial reception, she remembers the project as a fantastic experience. The connections she formed have also endured; she has run into both Travolta and Stallone over the years, noting that Stallone praised her strong work ethic. “He’s really supportive and cool,” she says. “It was nice.”
