Heartthrob actor Matthew McConaughey has been spotted looking especially thin and sickly recently, and some shocking new pictures have fans concerned. But don’t worry, that’s what he’s going for.
McConaughey’s extreme dieting is actually preparation for a new movie role he’s working on, playing a sickly AIDS victim in a drama called “The Dallas Buyer’s Club.” Back in July he told Larry King “I’ve got a role coming up in the middle of September. I’ve lost about 15 pounds, I’ve gotta lose about 15 more,” adding, “I should not look healthy by the time I’m doing this.”
Ultimately, the usually-chiseled actor lost 30 pounds to play Ron Woodruff in the true story of a heterosexual, homophobic electrician diagnosed with AIDS in 1986. In real life, Woodruff was told to “go home and die,” but instead underwent experimental drug treatment in a desperate attempt to save his life.
The scary skinny look is a stark contrast from his recent role as a buff and brawny male stripper in “Magic Mike.” According to People Magazine, in order to prep for his role as a stripper in that film, the self-admitted “sweat junkie” constantly hit the gym and enjoyed 5 meals of straight protein a day.
Nowadays, McConaughey is sipping tea and calling it a spiritual and mental cleanse. But whatever the actor is doing is significantly more than a cleanse, because McConaughey is a shadow of his former self. As he told King, the first ten days were the hardest because “It takes a while for your body to understand that it has to feed off of itself.” Now that sounds like dedication!
Landing the role of Woodruff was no easy feat for the Texas born actor. On The Red Carpet revealed that McConaughey had to beat out Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling for the role. McConaughey seems to have embarked on an intentional crossover from romantic comedy hunk to a more dramatic actor, putting things like “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” and “Failure to Launch” in the rearview while concentrating instead on grittier roles like his recent turn as a criminal defense attorney in “The Lincoln Lawyer.”
What do you say ladies? Will you be as eager to fork over your money for a performance in which we’re all hoping Matthew keeps his shirt on for once? Tell us below!