Matthew McConaughey Losing 30lbs To Play AIDS Hero

In interviews for Magic Mike, Matthew McConaughey hinted that one of his upcoming roles would have a bit of a gay theme, and it seems we now know what that is. He’s told Larry King’s new web series that he’s preparing to star in The Dallas Buyer’s Club, about Ron Woodroof. McConaughey has been attached to the role for a while, but it now looks like it finally preparing to shoot.

Woodroof was an electrician and a homophobe who in the 1980s was told he had AIDS. At the time it was seen as a death sentence, but Woodroof set up a smuggling operation to bring drugs into the US from Mexico, which could prolong people’s live even though they’d not been approved for use in America. He wound up living six more years and saved or prolonged the lives of many others. Hillary Swank will also stars, with Jean Marc Vallee (C.R.A.Z.Y., The Young Victoria) directing.

McConaughey told King he’s busy losing 30 pounds for the role, so he can convincingly play the emaciated Woodroof. ‘I should not look healthy by the time I’m [filming] this’, he says, adding that he’s drinking a lot of tea and treating it as ‘a bit of a spiritual cleanse, mental cleanse.’

‘It takes a while for your body to understand that it has to feed off of itself and that you’re not going to give it something else from the outside,’ he says.

It seems there’s still some work to do on the funding though, as McConaughey says ‘It was very tough to get the money for that one, being the subject material and it’s a period piece. We’ve been really, really close for a long time. There’s momentum right now.’

The film has had a rocky history, as back in 2008 it was all set to go ahead with Lars and the Real Girl’s Ryan Gosling and Craig Gillespie re-teaming for the flick. At various points the likes of Brad Pitt have also been interested, while Marc Forster considered it as a directing project. Now it finally seems to be heading towards the camera with McConaughey starring.

See the full interview below.