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Matthew McConaughey

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, with Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner. 117 minutes. A Remstar release. Opens Friday (November 1). For venues and times, see listings.


The first thing you notice about Matthew McConaughey is how healthy he looks.

“There was only one way to go,” jokes the actor when asked about gaining back some 40 pounds of the 47 he lost for his demanding role in Dallas Buyers Club.

He plays Ron Woodroof, a real-life womanizing Texas cowboy who in the 1980s became an unlikely AIDS activist after he was diagnosed with HIV and given 30 days to live. McConaughey, who’s bulked up to 200 pounds for some roles, got down to an emaciated 135 for the film.

“The body’s more resilient than we give it credit for,” he says, tanned and toned in a T-shirt during interviews for the film’s premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

“It can rebound, and you’re reminded of that, especially after a woman gives birth.”

Speaking of which, the actor’s had a career rebirth lately, giving astonishing performances in indie films like Magic Mike, Mud and Killer Joe. Even his recent Hollywood outing, The Lincoln Lawyer, found him in fine form. After years of lightweight movies – remember all those terrible rom-coms with Kate Hudson? – he’s reinvented himself. He’s a star who’s become an actor.

“I’m enjoying and loving acting more than I ever have,” he says in his laid-back Texas drawl. He credits his family for letting him work without blinders. His wife, he says, gives him the psychological space not to look in the rear-view mirror.

“And if anything, kids help the job I do,” he says. “They remind you that we’re playing make-believe. They remind you to be goofy as hell if you want to. That frees up the instrument and gets you to have fun. Even the hard work is fun.”

Not all of it was fun, however. Some scenes in Dallas Buyers Club show him more emotionally naked than we’ve ever seen him before. How tough was it to go to that place?

“If someone tells you you’ve got 30 days to live, you go through fear, desperation, denial,” he says. “Rage was the main emotion I had to deal with. And then Ron gets slowly isolated from friends, work, everything, just on his own island, stuck with himself.

“What I learned is to not make it hard. Relax, and don’t tell yourself you need to cry. Relax and try to express.”

McConaughey was a fan of Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée’s film C.R.A.Z.Y., and while preparing for the film the actor was adamant that Woodroof not be turned into a do-gooder white knight.

“The story’s ripe for that moment and we’ve all seen it in the movies,” he says. “The guy goes: ‘Who was I, and what have I become?’ It would have been false, bullshit. If you stayed with [Ron’s] anarchy, with the bigoted bastard, the guy out for self-preservation, the crusader and activist would be revealed.”

He sees a parallel in the unlikeable character Paul Newman plays in Hud, one of his favourite films.

“Here’s a character who from the beginning to the end doesn’t change,” he says. “Whether you like him or not, you respect him by the end of the story.”

Interview Clips

McConaughey on what he remembers about HIV and AIDS when he was growing up in Texas:

Download associated audio clip.

On the 27-day shooting schedule and tricks to play “healthy” Ron:

Download associated audio clip.

glenns@nowtoronto.com | @glennsumi

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