The 2016 Ghostbusters movie failed to inject life into the idling franchise, but you can’t blame that on Chris Hemsworth. Before revitalizing Thor as a comedic god for Taika Watiti, Hemsworth showed off his comedic abilities in Paul Feig’s reboot starring Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, which you may be shocked to find out was mostly improvised.
Despite giving one of the movie’s most memorable performances, Hemsworth revealed in a new interview with Variety that he almost quit the night before filming began, all because of the script.
“The night before I was shooting, I almost pulled out. 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.”
In a last-minute meeting with Feig, however, the actor learned that the director’s style was less beholden to the page and more focused on improvisation. Though hesitant at first, Hemsworth was able to finely tune his comedic sensibilities while acting alongside McCarthy and the Saturday Night Live alums that filled out the cast. He even credits Ghostbusters for prepping his comedic turn in Thor: Ragnarok and the subsequent Avengers films.
While Ghostbusters barely made a dent in the box office, Hemsworth notes that he would’ve loved to do a sequel, and had strong words for the internet trolls who attempted to disparage the film before it was even released:
“That whole period I was like, ‘What ownership do you guys have over those characters? 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.”
I have to admit, I find the fact that most of Hemsworth’s lines in Ghostbusters are improvised equally impressive and infuriating, as his scenes are some of the best moments in the film and it’s becoming more and more apparent that the guy is incredible at anything he does. Some of that credit should go to Feig too, though, who has the ability to draw out the best comedic abilities in his performers; if only he could bring the crowds out to the theater.
Ghostbusters fans shouldn’t fret, though; another reboot/threequel/spinoff is set to start production at the end of the year. Directed by Jason Reitman, son of the original film’s helmer, the new movie hopes to bring the franchise back from the dead once more. Let’s hope audiences will answer that call when the time comes.
