Gloria Reuben Teases Upcoming ER Cast Reunion: 'It Has Been So Long Since I've Seen These Faces'
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Dia Dipasupil/Getty Gloria Reuben
Gloria Reuben is proudly taking the credit for being the mastermind behind the upcoming ER reunion.
Speaking with Janine Rubenstein on the newest episode of the PEOPLE Every Day podcast, the actress jokes it's "all [her] fault" that her former costars — including George Clooney, Noah Wyle, Laura Innes, Anthony Edwards, Alex Kingston and Julianna Margulies — will soon come together once more, in benefit of the Waterkeeper Alliance.
Other ER alums set to join for the April 22 virtual reunion are Goran Visnjic, Paul McCrane, Ming-Na Wen, Laura Cerón, Yvette Freeman, Conni Marie Brazelton and CCH Pounder.
"It's so beautifully overwhelming because it has been so long since I've seen these faces," says Reuben, 56.
The reunion, which will take place on Stars in the House and stream on PEOPLE's social platforms, occurred to her after seeing the virtual show's success raising money for the Actors Fund and other nonprofits, by hosting reunions of casts from Broadway and TV shows.
"So I thought, 'I wonder if [her castmates] would be interested in doing an ER reunion for Waterkeeper Alliance on Earth Day?' And they said yes," she recalls. "And I was like, 'Oh my God. What am I going to do now?' "
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Sven Arnstein/NBCU Cast of ER
To invite them to join, Reuben says she "wrote letters" and "sent them out to my fellow castmates" — and the response was so overwhelmingly positive, she teases, that the love might not be contained to just one reunion.
"We're going to have a really full house," she shares. "Maybe we'll have to do another one in the near future."
Of her biggest takeaways from her time on the NBC medical drama, the Emmy nominee reflects on how the "groundbreaking" storyline about her character Jeanie being HIV-positive resonated with audiences, and is still meaningful to her to this day.
"It was such an intense storyline, and rightfully so, broke down those barriers of the assumptions or the misconceptions about who gets HIV, how they get it and how they can live their lives," Reuben says. "Particularly at that time in the mid to late '90s, when medicines were starting, the triple cocktails were starting. People were literally getting their lives back."
"It was integrated in [Jeanie's] life in such a way that was so profound and so deep and so real," she says.
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RELATED VIDEO: Maura Tierney's Favorite Memory from ER Involves Actor Mekhi Phifer … and Lots of Bloopers
The upcoming reunion, hosted by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, will see the cast reminisce about their time at Chicago's County General Hospital and answer live questions from fans.
"I am absolutely thrilled to be reuniting with my ER family for a cause that is so close to my heart, and so grateful to Seth and James for allowing us to use their incredible platform to do so," Reuben previously said in a statement to PEOPLE.
"I've been involved with Waterkeeper Alliance for 15 years, representing over 350 community-based Waterkeepers around the globe, and the work that they do is beyond comparison," she continued. "We must continue to fight for clean water not just on Earth Day, but all year round!"
Created by Michael Crichton, ER ran for 15 seasons from 1994 to 2009.
The upcoming reunion will stream exclusively on PEOPLE's social platforms — Facebook, Twitter and YouTube — as well as on PeopleTV's Facebook and Twitter, on April 22 at 8 p.m. ET.
Check out more from Reuben on PEOPLE Every Day, airing on iHeartMedia, Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
