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Kevin Beckman (usually called simply Kevin, and occasionally Kev) is the receptionist hired by the Ghostbusters in Ghostbusters (2016), the continuity also known as Answer the Call. He is played by Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, who was born August 11, 1983 in Melbourne, Victoria. Spectacularly, earnestly unintelligent, Kevin is nonetheless a genuinely kind presence who becomes an unlikely member of the team.
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Abby Yates placed an ad for a receptionist on behalf of the Conductors of the Metaphysical Examination. Kevin was the only applicant. His interview became a cascade of revelations: his glasses had no lenses because they kept getting dirty and he removed them to avoid cleaning them; he brought logo design samples that included an anatomically exaggerated ghost, a copy of the 7-Eleven logo, and his personal favorite, a hot dog floating above a house (his explanation: the floating hot dog implies a ghost is holding it, and he likes hot dogs because they are both food groups, dogs and buns). He also asked whether he could bring his dog Mike Hat to work, clarifying, when asked if the dog's name was "My Cat," that the dog's full name was Michael Hat.
Erin Gilbert was immediately infatuated and pushed for hiring him. Abby, finding him more pitiful than attractive, conceded on practical grounds: he was the only applicant, and they needed someone to carry equipment and answer the phone. He was hired. On his way out he stubbed his foot on the door frame.
Kevin's performance as a receptionist was consistently memorable. He put the ringing office phone in the fish tank. He answered the phone as "Conductors of Metamucils and Stuff." He informed the team they had a visitor by pointing at Patty and announcing "booth number one" only after everyone had already noticed her. He unplugged the phone because the calls were annoying him, then, when scolded, cut the cord instead. When asked to pass a towel he threw it well short of the intended recipient. He left mid-shift to participate in a hide-and-seek tournament, noting his team was in the semi-finals.
He also walked directly into a spill of hydrochloric acid in his slippers, neutralized it competently with baking soda when directed, then navigated to the eyewash station by walking until he hit something. He hated coffee but taste-tested Abby's cup to confirm the sugar was in it before handing it over.
Abby asked Kevin to write the epitaph for the revised edition of Ghosts From Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal. He had not read the book, went to an Adult Video Superstore to find a copy of the film Ghost by mistake, eventually watched the film at the Firehouse, and began crying within the first ten minutes. The other Ghostbusters joined him. He completed the epitaph, with Abby reading it aloud as he typed.
As the Ghostbusters moved to stop Rowan North's plan at the Mercado Hotel, Kevin had assembled his own makeshift Ghostbuster uniform and claimed a motorcycle he branded as "Ecto-2." He insisted he was part of the team and could help without getting in the way. Rowan, after vacating Abby's body, possessed Kevin, describing it as an upgrade and noting with satisfaction that he did not have to suck it in. Possessed Kevin drove the Ecto-2 down Henry Street to the Mercado and unleashed ghosts onto the city.
When the Ghostbusters confronted Rowan at the Mercado, Abby appealed to him to release Kevin, listing his many frustrating quirks before admitting the team genuinely liked him. Jillian Holtzmann added that he had just started figuring out the phones. Rowan abandoned Kevin's body, noting Kevin was making him feel stupider by the second. Kevin fell unconscious to the lobby floor. He mumbled about ice cream in his sleep while the battle continued above him.
Kevin regained consciousness while the Ghostbusters fought Rowan in Times Square. He made himself a sub sandwich at a nearby deli, then found a power box and pushed several buttons. He believed this action closed the portal. The Ghostbusters informed him the two events were unrelated. He suggested they stop splitting hairs.
After the city government provided the team with a firehouse, Kevin set up his desk in the center of the ground floor. He developed a habit of answering calls with invented diagnostic classifications for the ghost in question ("illusional meta-physious, spectro-mian"), speculating about karmic causation, then drinking from a coffee mug and spitting it out because he hated coffee. Abby discussed simply disconnecting his phone on the grounds that he would not notice.
In the IDW comic series, Kevin's role expands without his competence improving much. He ordered ten cases of spray cheese on the team's business account. He handed Abby a shoe when she asked for a message he had taken. He cut the phone cord again; Abby had a supply of replacement phones ready because this was the eighth occurrence. He introduced himself to Special Agent Melanie Ortiz and asked if she had met "Kevin Jr.," which Kylie Griffin clarified was his name for Slimer.
During the Ghostbusters 101 crossover, Kevin interacted with Egon Spengler of the prime continuity and was told he could name the ghost in the Paranormal Containment Research Tank if he was good. He wanted to name it Kevin Junior. He tried on Ecto Goggles, balanced a stack of books on his head, played with a Slinky, then tagged all the equipment from the other dimension with sticky notes so no one would get confused. Janine Melnitz, after taking the phone away from him, remarked he reminded her of a Labrador Retriever.
During the Kruger arc, Kevin served as the test subject for Holtzmann's Dream Machine, wearing a colander as a helmet. When asked to get plates he brought a record and a frisbee. Holtzmann declared she found his creative problem-solving inspiring and wanted to study him further. Kevin ultimately suited up with his own pack and successfully captured Kruger with the JH Modified Trap, declaring himself part of the team. The team insisted he had always been part of the team. He asked when he was getting his own car with a siren.
In the Crossing Over arc, Kevin believed he was celebrating his tenth anniversary with the Ghostbusters when it had not yet been his second. He took himself to breakfast. He placed a phone call that Abby received, told her Abby was not in, and when she explained she was Abby, offered to let Abby know.
On a Ghostbusters cruise in New York Harbor, Kevin wore a suit and pronounced it fun. When Sahaq rose from the harbor, Kevin announced he was no longer enjoying himself and ran.
Kevin is not the brightest, but his failures are almost always the result of literal-mindedness, distraction, and genuinely alien logic rather than malice or laziness. He confuses sight for sound during his interview, covering his eyes when asked not to listen. He takes figures of speech at face value and offers sincere, internally consistent explanations for choices that baffle everyone around him. He is easygoing, warmhearted, and capable of surprisingly decent moments of practical action when given clear instructions.
The Ghostbusters Crossing Over virtual trading card notes that Kevin suffers from extreme ADHD, that his easygoing nature allows him to connect well with customers, that his personality complements the more chaotic members of the team, and that Mike Hat is a trained service dog who helps keep Kevin on task. The card also notes Kevin is bilingual but usually forgets he is.
Extended scenes from the film reveal further details: he has seasonal affective disorder, mild narcolepsy with severe daytime sleep night terrors, gets his sixes and nines and fives and the letter S mixed up, learned saxophone by watching his uncle play, is a compulsive eater, and never went to school.
The Ghostbusters' receptionist was always written as male during production. Paul Feig and Chris Hemsworth share the same talent agent, Bryan Lourd, who informed Feig that Hemsworth was interested in a role in the film. Feig confirmed the casting publicly on June 10, 2015.
Costume designer Jeffrey Kurland and Hemsworth went through multiple pairs of glasses before settling on the empty frames. Paul Feig told Hemsworth that Kevin could be written as Australian if he accepted the role, so Hemsworth could essentially play himself.
Hemsworth nearly withdrew the night before he was scheduled to begin filming: a revised draft of the script had not incorporated changes Feig had discussed with him a month earlier. His agent arranged a last-minute meeting, and Feig committed to extensive improvisation. Hemsworth felt ridiculous on set and channeled that discomfort directly into the performance.
Kristen Wiig improvised Erin's immediate crush on Kevin during filming. Melissa McCarthy pointed out early that Kevin needed to be someone the team genuinely cared about rescuing, which shifted the character away from pure apathy and toward the warm, baffled earnestness of the final performance. The Mike Hat joke was improvised by Hemsworth on the day.
When Kevin trips after being hired, Hemsworth actually tripped. For the Ecto-2 sequence with possessed Kevin, a digital head replacement was required because the stunt double's hair differed in texture from Hemsworth's. The end-credits tag scenes were filmed on a single-wall set by Hemsworth alone due to schedule constraints; Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy filmed their reactions weeks later.
Photos of Hemsworth in a jumpsuit on the Ecto-2 were published on August 17, 2015. Hemsworth finished filming his scenes on August 21, 2015.
Kevin's distinctive no-lens glasses became one of the more recognizable accessories from the 2016 film. The 2016 Ecto-2 motorcycle he rides while possessed has been a subject of fan interest, separate from the primary Ectomobile. GBFans.com's 2016 film forums cover the broader range of Answer the Call prop and costume research, including the flight suits worn by the team and the equipment Kevin briefly commandeers.
