Chris Hemsworth is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, with his name alone bringing droves of fans into theaters. He's played the role of Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the past 11 years, along with several other blockbuster films on his resume. Given his star power, it's crazy to think that Hemsworth believed his career might be over after the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot.
The reboot, which starred SNL members Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones, faced backlash by what was likely sexist fans, claiming they weren't interested in a female-led reboot. As a result, the trailer, released on YouTube, became the most disliked film trailer on the site up to that point. In addition, the rating on IMDb was review bombed before the film's release, although it's managed to climb up to 6.6 more than six years after the movie's release.
Hemsworth played Kevin Beckman, a receptionist with good looks and a lack of brains, playing on the familiar trope seen in Hollywood. Director Paul Feig wanted to introduce the Ghostbusters franchise to a new generation, with the cast and crew initially signing up for what would've been a trilogy. Unfortunately, the film didn't perform well at the box office, reaching $229 million over its lifetime on a $144 million budget. Following the release, the sequels were scrapped, and the franchise wouldn't return until 2021 with Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
However, Hemsworth wasn't worried about the performance of the movie. Instead, he was concerned with what audiences would think of his performance as Kevin Beckman. In an interview with GQ, the actor revealed his hesitancy toward improvisation in Ghostbusters and how he believed it would "let everybody down." See his full quote below:
"I said to Paul [Feig], "There's not a whole lot on the page, like, what do you want me doing?" He said, "Oh, we'll figure it out when you get here." So I said, "Okay, why not? Let's go." And I got there, turned up to the studio the day before we started shooting and he handed me the script, I read the script and I said, "There's still nothing in here. Like, what am I doing?" And he said, "It's okay, we're gonna improvise and have fun." And my immediate reaction was, this is not only the end of my career but I'm going to ruin this film, I'm gonna let everyone down, I haven't done this before, what am I doing?"
His worries didn't last long, as the SNL cast members took the actor "under their wing" and helped Hemsworth master improvisation. This skill would come in handy as the actor improvised certain scenes in the 2017 film Thor: Ragnarok, widely considered the best solo Thor movie to date.
Ghostbusters Had No Effect on the Trajectory of Hemsworth's Career
Despite his reservations about the Ghostbusters improvisation, Hemsworth's career has only gained momentum since 2016. That same year, he appeared in a small cameo for Doctor Strange before the smash hit Thor: Ragnarok one year later. In 2018, he had another big year, appearing as Thor in Avengers: Infinity War and Billy Lee in Bad Times at the El Royale. The following year Hemsworth was the God of Thunder once again in Avengers: Endgame, and Agent H with fellow MCU co-star Tessa Thompson in Men in Black: International.
In 2020, the veteran actor explored a new role as Tyler Rake in Extraction, a film following a fearless black market mercenary embarking on a deadly mission. The film will receive a sequel, set to release sometime this year. Next month, Hemsworth will return in Thor: Love and Thunder, marking the actor as the first in the MCU to receive four solo films.
Chris Hemsworth is overwhelmed with work as of late, and his performance in Ghostbusters clearly didn't slow him down.