Ghostbusters: Chris Hemsworth to swap Thor for receptionist in all-female remake

Director Paul Feig enticed the Marvel actor by making his small part bigger

Chris Hemsworth is known for major action roles but will soon be seen behind a desk in the all-female Ghostbusters (Getty Images)

Paul Feig has gone one step further on his all-female Ghostbusters reboot and called none other than Thor actor Chris Hemsworth to play a receptionist.

The director, known for recent box office smash Spy, has turned the traditionally female role on its head to prove that actually, men can support women in movies, not just the other way round.

Feig announced the news on Twitter today after increasing the size of the part with co-writer Katie Dippold to entice Hemsworth.

Variety reports that the Aussie actor initially rejected Feig's offer because, fair play, he's a Marvel superhero and used to being the main man on all the posters.

Hemsworth's character, a woman named Janine Melnitz played by Annie Potts in the 1984 original, is the most junior Firehouse employee who staffs the phones and tracks all the appointments.

Plot details remain unknown at this stage, but Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon are your new ghoul-fighting badasses.

Feig recently spoke of his "surprise" after finding out that Sony also has an all-male Ghostbusters remake in the pipeline, revealing that he received a "very rough and upsetting" reaction from some misogynistic fans.

"I credited the public with being cooler than that," he told Radio Times. "There are so many funny women that aren't getting a chance to showcase who can become big stars."

Paul Feig's all-female Ghostbusters cast (Getty Images)

Feig does not want to "put one gender over another gender", but rather counter-balance an inequity when "one has been so subjugated by the roles they've been given in general".

Ghostbusters will be the first of at least two films from Feig. Production begins later this summer and it reaches cinemas next July.