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Matthew McConaughey is considering reversing the McConaissance

His 'serious acting' in Dallas Buyers Club might have won him an Oscar but romcoms have his heart

Monday 26 September 2016 11:12 BST

Matthew McConaughey playing Detective Rust Cohle in True Detective but wishing he was filming The Wedding Planner (HBO)

Matthew McConaughey’s transformation from romcom king to Oscar-winning star of ‘serious movies’ was the talk of Hollywood in 2013, but now, the actor has revealed that he is considering reversing the so-called McConaissance and returning to his roots.

From How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days to The Wedding Planner, McConaughey made a name for himself in delightfully average movies loved at Saturday night sleepovers the world over, before everything changed with the release of Dallas Buyers Club.

Gone was the boyish charm of the generally shirtless love interests he’d favoured playing, replaced with a rough Texas drawl for the gritty role of Ron Woodroof, an electrician diagnosed with HIV in the 80s who set about smuggling unapproved medicine into the state for distribution among his fellow sufferers.

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

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1/10Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

McConaughey committed to a strict diet ahead of playing Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club. He lost a massive 47lbs after surviving on a spoonful of tapioca pudding, Diet Coke and chicken each day.

AP

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Tom Hanks in Castaway

Production was halted on Castaway for a year to allow Hanks time to lose 50lbs ahead of his time on a deserted island. The actor survived mainly on crabs, coconuts and coconut milk. During the first two weeks of his diet he could fit an entire meal in the palm of his hand.

Rex Features

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in Black Swan

Kunis, pictured here, and Portman both lost around 20lbs each for their roles as ballerines in 2010's Black Swan. Portman explained that most of her weight loss had come from the daily intense ballet training the cast were put through.

AP

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Christian Bale in Batman

To play Christopher Nolan's darker version of the superhero, Bale gained 100lbs on a high protein diet accompanied by hardcore physical training. He was then asked to drop 20lbs of it as the director said he was too bulky. Previously, Bale had lost 60lbs eating mainly coffee and apples for his role as an emaciated insomniac in psychological thriller The Machinist.

Rex Features

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Ashton Kutcher in Jobs

Kutcher embarked on the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs' fruitarian diet ahead of playing him in a biopic about his life and career. The actor lost nearly 20lbs but was briefly hospitalised as a result.

AP

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Robert De Niro in Raging Bull

In the original Raging Bull, based on the life of aging boxer Jake LaMotta, De Niro put on 60lbs. To play the actor in his prime earlier in the film, however, De Niro endured extensive physical training, including entering three real boxing matches - he won two.

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

The actress lost 10lb in just three weeks before filming for the role of destitute Fantine in the movie adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. She then shed a further 15lb while shooting. Hathaway lived on a diet of 'oatmeal paste'.

AP

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry

Swank lived as man for a month and experienced extreme weight fluctuation before filming for her role as Teena Brandon in 1999's Boys Don't Cry. Her character becomes the male Brandon Teena during the film. Swank reduced her body fat to just 7 per cent and even bound her breasts with bandages in an effort to make her performance realistic.

Rex Features

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones' Diary

The US actress gained 20lbs to play the awkward thirtysomething Bridget in the classic 2011 rom-com. She went from a size 4 to a size 14 before slimming down again afterwards.

Actors who have undertaken extreme diets for movie roles

Matt Damon in The Informant

To play Mark Whitacre in Steven Soderbergh's 2009 character study, Damon piled on 30lbs. He lived on steak, Doritos crisps, beer and whatever other fatty foods he could find - nice.

Warner Bros

McConaughey shed a ton of weight for his performance, which scored him the Oscar for Best Actor and the lead role in Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi blockbuster Interstellar. The 46-year-old is now playing US Civil War abolitionist Newton Knight in Free State of Jones, but the romcom world is calling to him once more.

“Obviously Free State of Jones isn’t a Saturday character. It’s a Monday morning, go to work character,” he told the Press Association. “But I’m open to that in the future. I’m looking for some comedy right now.”

So there you have it, roll on more DVDs for your ‘night in with chocolates and gal pals’ collection. Alright, alright, alriiiiiight!

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