Matthew McConaughey Stuns Joe Rogan With 'Militant' Weight Loss Regime For Dallas Buyer's Club

Actor Matthew McConaughey has detailed how he got into character for his role as Ron Woodroof in 2013 film Dallas Buyer's Club, having famously shed 50lbs for the job.

Speaking to Joe Rogan in a new episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, McConaughey discussed the extreme physical transformation he underwent to portray Woodroof, an AIDs patient who smuggled unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into Texas to treat his symptoms, also distributing them to others.

After bringing Woodroof's true story to life on screen, McConaughey was heaped with praise from critics - even winning the Best Actor award at the 86th Academy Awards for his efforts.

Focus Features

But dedicating himself to the portrayal was by no means an easy feat, having told Rogan he became 'militant' about the transformation.

In the new interview filmed via Skype, McConaughey recalled: "I weighed 135. And you know this, I was not torturing myself.

"I was militant. The hardest part was making the damn choice. It was my responsibility.

"If I looked like I do now playing Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyer's Club, you are out of the movie in the first frame. All bulls***, he's not stage 4 HIV."

Once he'd made his mind up, McConaughey said he did the 'smart thing' and gave himself five months to lose the weight, saying he put himself on an extreme diet that consisted of 'tapioca pudding or whatever, three egg whites in the morning', along with 'five ounces of fish couple vegetables for lunch, five ounces of fish couple vegetables for dinner'.

Joe Rogan Experience

This limited diet was what helped McConaughey lose 2.5lbs a week 'like clockwork' without any exercise, although Rogan was shocked to find out the actor had still been able to drink 'as much wine' as he wanted.

"What kind of diet is this?" Rogan laughed.

McConaughey said his kids thought he 'looked like a giraffe' because he was 'so skinny' at the time, having explained to them that his hard work helped him win an Oscar.

He continued: "What I learned from it is that the body is more resilient than we give it credit for.

"The power I lost from the neck down equally or more sublimated to the neck up. My mental gain was so acute and so on point, that I was clinically smart."

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Celebrity, joe rogan, Matthew McConaughey

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

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