It’s hard to picture Chris Hemsworth—a towering 6’3″ actor known for playing Thor, the God of Thunder—sitting behind a desk as a receptionist fielding calls about ghost sightings.
But in the upcoming reboot of Ghostbusters, the Australian superstar finds himself doing just that, as he veers very much out of his comfort zone and takes on the role of Kevin, a hapless man with a sweet, simple attitude that both charms and confounds his female bosses to no end.
“He’s a big dumb puppy dog,” laughs Hemsworth, “full of enthusiasm, but completely naïve and from a very different angle to the rest of them. It created a very good dynamic with the girls and how they see the world.”
But stepping off kilter has always been part of the Hemsworth way. Hailing from Melbourne, a young Chris found himself trying out acting because his two brothers Luke and Liam were both part of the acting community already.
Nabbing a role in the soap Home and Away (practically a finishing school for other actors, such as Heath Ledger, Naomi Watts and Guy Pearce), Hemsworth quickly learned to navigate the considerable amount of preposterous plotlines and come through the other side with a confidence and openness that would benefit him in his later years.
Deciding to then try his luck in Hollywood, Hemsworth quickly found himself working with J.J. Abrams (on Star Trek) and Joss Whedon (on The Cabin in the Woods), who then famously convinced director Kenneth Branagh to give Hemsworth a second look as Thor, after overlooking him in early audition rounds. Once Hemsworth was cast, the rest is history.
With a combined box office of over $4 billion of all his appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hemsworth’s success allows him to gamble on playing different types of roles not associated with holding the hammer of the gods. Having demonstrated his ample supply of talent and leading-man charisma in dramatic films like Rush and In the Heart of the Sea, Hemsworth is ready to stretch with his scene-stealing role in the action comedy Ghostbusters.
In this new era of Ghostbusters, director Paul Feig and screenwriter Katie Dippold imagine a team of friends (played by the extremely funny Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones), who bond together to form the Ghostbusters organization when the city starts to experience a growing amount of paranormal activities.
Pairing humor with surprisingly big action set pieces, Feig promises that there will be references to the original movies (from the logo to the Ecto-1 vehicle), a slew of cameos and, perhaps, a fan-favorite spirit or two (Slimer has already appeared in the trailer). Throw in a few epic fights, new gadgets and scary ghosts, and it’s clear that this Ghostbusters will definitely usher in a round of cult appeal for a new generation.
With every team there needs to be a headquarters, and in the case of Ghostbusters, the place is strewn with equipment parts, endless wires and countless gadgets. It’s not until the appearance of receptionist applicant Kevin, played by Hemsworth, that things start coming together…or maybe not.
“For most of the film, he has no idea what to even do in the place,” Hemsworth explains, “and when he answers the phone, he doesn’t know why people keep talking about ghosts, so he just keeps hanging up. And then he understands, oh wow, this is what you guys do, cool, well I am going to help.”
“Kevin comes in and he is really our only shot at someone to maybe carry some of the heavy stuff and help us,” laughs Melissa McCarthy, who plays true believer Abby Yates.
“He turns out to be absolutely clueless on the most commonsense level of any given situation, especially in how Chris plays it. Although we really should have kicked him out the first day, somehow he kind of chips away at us and we end up loving him, even though, really, there is no good reason. He ends up being so sweet, but so clueless, and it’s amazing that he just survives the day. But by the end, he really falls into the mix, and it’s an amazing addition.”
Though initially Hemsworth was a bit worried at how his character would come off as too simplistic, he quickly learned that director Paul Feig had other plans for how Kevin would turn out. “My character was sort of fairly minimal in the script,” Hemsworth recalls, “and [Paul] said don’t worry, there’s more coming and it’s going to be something else. So we got on set and, very quickly, realized that he just shouts lines and suggestions for the scene. And through the 40-minute takes, we would all be improvising and having ideas thrown at us.”
“It was a wacky, crazy way to work,” Hemsworth continues, “but I think one of the most enjoyable processes I have had on a set, just because there’s such an organic way to feel and develop the character, never set in stone, and certainly unpredictable in a great way.”
Turns out Director Paul Feig knew that Hemsworth could hold his own against such some of the funniest women in comedy today after watching him successfully perform on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live.
But the stars of Ghostbusters had a bit of a surprise when Hemsworth was able to adlib toe-to-toe during the group interview scene, making them big fans at how diverse Hemsworth can be as an actor.
“He is so funny,” Kristin Wiig fawns.
“It’s almost unfair,” chimes in Melissa McCarthy.
“Yeah, he is basically perfect. It’s super annoying,” Kate McKinnon admits. “We are going to find something about him,” Leslie Jones warns.
Joking aside, Hemsworth describes what it’s like to work with such a talented cast, who have a great track record by virtue of being in some of the biggest comedies of the past decade. “It became very apparent from the first take how generous they were with what they were going to feed, with lines and ideas and things. I have a greater appreciation for comedy than I ever had before, and it’s I think possibly harder than drama or anything else to be in that environment and have those ideas be full of wit and charisma.”
“From my point of view,” he adds, “I was just responding to what I was being given, and trying to kind of keep up. That’s what I mean about their sort of generosity, and they are not just looking out for themselves. They are feeding you things and so the goal was just to kind of stay present and try to respond to what they were giving me [with] Paul yelling suggestions. It’s such a team effort.”
Don’t assume that Ghostbusters is all jokes and no action; Hemsworth’s skill as an Avenger comes in quite handy for the big action set pieces against the spirits. With the return of the infamous proton wands, devilish possessions and a battle sequence in Times Square, get ready for a more physical badass version of the Ghostbusters that will thrill you with frights, laughs and some serious explosions.
But right now, Hemsworth is having none of that, returning to his receptionist’s table to channel his inner Kevin, which involves wearing lens-free glasses and a blank smile that might actually be the character’s resting face, Hemsworth quickly gives us his reasons to why this version of Ghostbusters will entertain a whole new round of fans.
“We see a lot of blockbusters these days with a sort of a serious tone and a little speckling of comedy in there somewhere. But this is a comedy on that platform, coupled with the same sort of elevated special effects that you get in bigger films, [which] is, I think, hugely exciting.”
With that, Hemsworth as Kevin goes to answer the phone and hangs up because of yet another preposterous request looking for something called the Ghostbusters.
Who are you gonna call?