Halloween Ends star Jamie Lee Curtis reveals a 'secret backstory' between her character and Will Patton's character, Frank Hawkins. Curtis first played Laurie Strode in the 1978 John Carpenter film Halloween, and has gone on to reprise that role across seven Halloween franchise films, a few of which are not considered canon in the timeline of the latest trilogy. Curtis reprised her role as Laurie four decades later in David Gordon Green's 2018 film Halloween, launching a trilogy that is set to conclude with Halloween Ends, which is reported to be Curtis' final appearance as Laurie.
The recent Halloween trilogy puts the focus on the family Laurie has built since iconic franchise villain Michael Myers was locked up. Centering on three generations of women - Laurie, her daughter Karen (Judy Greer), and her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) - the films haven't revealed much regarding the parentage of Laurie's daughter. In Halloween Kills, Karen tragically died at the hands of Myers, making Laurie's mission in Halloween Ends even more urgent. With the grief that Laurie will be facing in Halloween Ends, viewers have wondered who she might be leaning on for support, with some considering that Haddonfield Deputy Frank Hawkins may be an effective confidante for the character after their interactions in Halloween Kills. Now, Curtis has offered more insight into her character's relationship with Frank.
During an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Curtis reveals a history that she has imagined between Frank and Laurie since her first scene with Patton. The actor says that, in her eyes, Frank was the father of Laurie's daughter, Karen, unbeknownst to the two characters. Curtis also teases that the two characters' special connection will extend into the final film in the trilogy. Check out what she says below:
"[Will Patton] is a great scene partner. I'm going to tell you a secret. Nobody knows this. There is a reason why Laurie and Frank have kind of had this dance. You see it in Kills a little bit. There's a scene about the night in the bar when they came in contact...
The day I met Will, we were shooting the 2018 movie, and we were outside with Sartain. He was sitting in the chair, and we have the line from the trailer, where I say, 'I've been waiting for him to escape,' and he says, 'Why would you do that?' 'So I can kill him.' That sequence was the first day I worked with Will. I remember walking up to the set, doing that scene, and having this incredible sense with Will. We didn't know each other. I literally went, 'Hi, I'm Jamie,' boom, let's do the scene.
But I went to David Gordon Green after and I said, 'I think he's Judy Greer's father.' Because I think Laurie Strode was drunk in a bar a lot. I think she came into sexual collision with a bunch of people. I think, when she got pregnant, she didn't know who the biological father of that child was. And I said to David, 'I think it was Frank.'
So, all of a sudden, two years later, I'm reading the script [for Halloween Kills] and there's a scene where Frank gets rolled into the hospital, and now there's a scene about, 'Do you remember the night in the bar?' And I was thinking it's gonna be that we have this moment where I say, 'I think you're Karen's father!' But he says, 'I wanted more. We kissed, I wanted more, but we didn't.'
And now, in the last movie, the person she comes into a little hopeful contact with for a second is Frank. All of that is built organically when two actors meet. You get a feeling, and then David writes the relationship. I don't think that was the intention of the three movies, that Laurie and Frank would have this thing! And it came out of that first moment with him."
How A Laurie & Frank Romance Might've Changed The Halloween Trilogy
Curtis' comments about her on-screen connection with Patton reveal the ways in which the chemistry between actors can influence their character's stories. Due to Laurie often being forced into life-or-death situations when being pursued by Michael Myers, Halloween viewers don't get many chances to witness the character in different, emotionally vulnerable, or romantic circumstances. Imagining the Laurie that Curtis describes, meeting up with sexual partners in bars, provides a new layer to the fan-favorite character, offering a different side to her that exists outside of her lifelong fight with Myers. Therefore, if Laurie and Frank had gotten together either when she got pregnant or afterward, the Halloween trilogy would have become even more tragic, adding in another person whose life was ruined by Myers.
It's not likely that being romantically involved with Frank would have changed many of Laurie's decisions in the trilogy, given her long-established independent nature and lifelong mission, but it would have offered her family more support. However, the romance storyline may have distracted from Laurie's well-earned place as the franchise's iconic 'final girl.' The deeper level to Laurie and Frank's relationship still exists for Halloween fans to enjoy in the subtext of their scenes together, and based on Curtis' comments, they will share another tender moment in Halloween Ends.
