If you listen carefully, you can still hear the echoes of bellyaching brought on by director Paul Feig's GHOSTBUSTERS reboot. At the time of its 2016 release, the supernatural action comedy starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones, struck a nerve with select fans of the original franchise, leaving those who'd actually enjoyed the female-led film feeling as if they were shouting its praises into the void. It was debilitating to think that bustin' no longer made fans feel good, and as it turns out, Marvel alum Chris Hemsworth nearly walked from his role as Kevin, the dim-witted receptionist, the night before cameras were set to roll.
Recently while speaking with Variety, Hemsworth explained to the entertainment outlet that he almost exited the production on account of having continued issues with Feig's script. “The night before I was shooting, I almost pulled out,” said Hemsworth. “Three or four weeks prior, Paul said to me, ‘I’m going to write up the character. Don’t worry.’ And then I got the script and nothing had changed.”
Hemsworth then added, “I was really scared walking onto that set. I had no real plan, so I was just feeding off of them, and I just felt ridiculous. So I used that.”
Thankfully, despite his trepidation, Hemsworth soldiered on as the easy-on-the-eyes receptionist. In time, Hemsworth would say that the role helped to hone his comedic chops, a talent he then applied to his God of Thunder character for Taika Waititi's THOR: RAGNAROK as well as the remaining films belonging to Marvel's Infinity Saga. In fact, Hemsworth says that, in the end, he enjoyed playing Kevin so much that he would happily return for a sequel – though he doesn't see that happening anytime soon.
“That whole period I was like, ‘What ownership do you guys have over those characters?’” Hemsworth said of the vile trolls whose self-appointed mission it was to ruin the film for others. “Oh, you watched the film, therefore you should have a say over where it goes? I thought it was very unfortunate and kind of disappointing.”
Hemsworth's blessing or no, it'll likely be a cold day in Hell before we see a sequel to Feig's GHOSTBUSTERS. At the very least, among other positives, GHOSBUSTERS taught Hemsworth a number of valuable lessons in the art of comedy. I have no doubt that he'll be putting those skills to great use in the years to come, so in a way we should all be thankful that GHOSTBUSTERS came along.