These are photos of Matthew McConaughey from this past weekend, and from the weekend before, all of the photos from Austin, TX. People keep covering photos of MM and asking, in faux-concerned voices, “OMG, what’s wrong with him?” And we’ve tried not to cover the photos at all. Because I think it’s really unfair to MM, oddly enough. He’s been losing weight steadily and dramatically for the past few months because he’s going to be playing a man dying of AIDS in The Dallas Buyer’s Club. He’s doing a dramatic physical transformation for a movie role. Stop concern-trolling him and acting like he’s sick! It’s for a movie.
He’s half the man he used to be. Matthew McConaughey looked like a skeletal shadow of himself jogging outside a gym in Austin, Tex. on Friday. In several layers of workout clothes, the actor, 42, looked alarmingly gaunt and haggard — even more than than he did just five days earlier on a stroll with his mother, Mary.
As previously reported, the usually muscular star’s body transformation is all for an important new film role in The Dallas Buyer’s Club, which tells the real-life story of Ron Woodruff, a drug addict in 1980s-era Texas who contracts HIV, and became one of the first AIDS activitists.
“I’m playing a guy who was sick and would have loved to have been healthier but wasn’t. For me, it’s more of a mental thing than a physical thing,” McConaughey told Us in August of playing Woodruff, who launched one of the first-ever AIDS support groups.
Eating “small amounts” of high-protein, low-carb food, the star told Us “I’ll get down to the weight I need to get to. I’m on my way, and it’s what I need to do for the job.”Still, despite the star’s commitment to his craft — he’s lost about 30 pounds — a recent online poll at Us Weekly suggested that most fans think he’s gone too far: With 90 percent of nearly 18,000 votes expressing concern for McConaughey.
Stop doing polling on MM’s weight loss! That’s my take. Does he look unhealthy? Of course he does. Does he look like he’s dying? He’s SUPPOSED to look that way. Matthew is probably going to get an Oscar nomination (if not an actual award) for this role and for this physical transformation. And I feel fairly certain that when the film is over, he’ll gain the weight back.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
He looks like a completely different person. It’s crazy how weight loss/gain can totally transform your face and all of your features.
that is certainly true. I wish I could lose that weight too. He has immense stamina and discipline though and great family support.
Severe transformation = Oscar
That’s what I was thinking.
Bingo
Or WWII movie. That’s how Winslet did it.
MM seems like a guy who’s pretty into his body and keeping it healthy, so I’m sure he’s doing this under the guidance of a medical professional. Plus, I’m sure he prefers looking all buffed out the way he normally does. I don’t understand why people are freaking out. It’s for a role – when that’s over, he’ll go back to normal.
+ 1
Exactly what I was going to say, I’m SURE he has a doctor or three watching all his levels and making sure he doesn’t go overboard and make himself ill. Dollars to donuts, he’s taking supplements and vitamins as well.
^^THIS^^ And thank you, CB, for voicing my opinion on this – it’s for a role, STFU!
Honestly, did people react like this about Tom Hanks, when Cast Away had to be filmed in TWO PARTS, 18 months apart, so he could look “normal” in the beginning and like a castaway later? (That’s a serious question, because I really don’t remember.)
Cast Away pre-dated the rise of internet blogs with continuous celebrity news. Few people knew about Tom Hank’s weight loss.
Problem is, at his age, his face is never going to look the same again after such a severe transformation.
He looks like he’s dying all right.
Yes, he does look like he’s dying. He was too thin to begin with.
No role is worth this and I don’t care what anyone says, I think it’s playing Russian roulette with one’s life.
Agreed, it’s kind of ridiculous. It’s just a movie and his best movies are when he is laying that Texas style charm on thick, not playing a skeleton. Egads.
Frankly, this is a movie I’ll watch instead of avoiding him like the plague. The texas style greasy sleazebag is one HUGE TURNOFF for me.
I remember Matt Damon talking in an interview about losing a ton of weight for one of his first roles so he could stand out to the director. And he said he had residual health problems for a really long time afterwards. MM could be doing some serious, irreparable damage to himself.
Oddly, when I first saw the pictures I thought he looked like Rock Hudson. (in the last year of his life)
But I suspect McConaughey is counting down the days till he gets to eat solid food again.
There have been plenty of physical transformations done for films before (Christian Bale, The Machinist) and I’m sure there will be more to come in the future.
I’d be willing to bet he’s got a small army of doctors and nutritionists keeping an eye on him (and rightly so).
He’ll be fine. Just let the man do his job.
Christian’s body in the Machinist was so uncomfortable to look at, like it literally revolted me.
I’ve only seen pictures from that movie, and they make my skin crawl. You know that creepy feeling you get when you touch a scar? Like that.
At least he’s been doing the weight loss gradually, rather than crash-dieting which is so dangerous.
That said, I don’t think he needs to lose any more weight – he’s plenty convincing the way he looks now.
His mother looks like she’s holding him up in those pictures.
He’s just on that Oscar diet, he’ll be back to himself soon.
So many have seen a friend or family member transformed that way from illness, and somehow it hits a nerve. It’s like seeing a shark in the ocean, something in the deep ancient part of your brain responds.
You are exactly right, and the way you phrased it was perfection.
It’s deeply unsettling to see anyone waste away, even if it is by choice or for a role.
Excellent point. If you’ve seen a loved one become shockingly emaciated due to any terminal illness, comments about MM’s appearance do not seem at all like “concern trolling”.
There are also those, like me, who were there during the early years of the AIDS epidemic. I was living in SF then and saw so many young men for whom drastic weight loss equaled certain death. Since these pictures of MM began unexpectedly popping up I’ve had a few flashbacks. I know that it’s only a movie, of course, and I click away asap, but it’s still genuinely disturbing to me.
I agree, it can trigger bad memories (but that’s the reaction they’re going for with that movie, or am I misunderstanding?) and what upsets me the most is that they keep talking about how exactly he’s losing all that weight. Who cares?
But I think the “concern trolling” Kaiser mentioned was not in reference to people responding to the pics but to the blogs and other media outlets who keep posting them just to get hits. He’s been doing this for months, enough already. We really don’t need to monitor his scary weight-loss-progress. At least that’s my take on it. We can watch the movie if we like. Although I’m not sure I can stomach it, this already looks like they’re going for tears.
for a role or not, he looks horrible! if i was his mom, i would be worried sick about him. bad for your health losin and gaining drastically like that.
This is great advanced publicity for the movie. Well played, CAA.
totally off topic. Is this the same agency that represents JenAn and Chelsea Handler?
+1
@ Miss Kiki-Yeah the same. I read CAA is repping the film for North American distribution.
It’s great that he is willing to sacrifice his health for the role but he’s not the first one who’s ever done it – Christian Bale
http://www.getthebigpicture.net/blog/2009/5/30/no-more-weight-loss-extremes-for-christian-bale.html
Also, Matt Damon & Tom Hardy come to mind. I believe both men have said they won’t do it again as it’s too hard on your body.
Remember how skinny Damon was in Courage Under Fire?
All this for a chance in the award? I hope it worth it. For me this is a little too much. But they should tell their way of losing weight I mean for those who are overweight. It might help.
First, it’s not JUST for the award. It’s to tell a story in a realistic way. Yes, it’s shocking, and probably not the most healthy, but he’s being true to the story, and showing the pain and appearance of someone dieing from AIDS.
Second, no he should not share his way with fat people. Do you honestly think it’s healthy to drop weight extremely fast? The healthiest way to lose weight is to do it gradually with diet and exercise.
This is similar to when Mila dropped the lbs for ‘Black Swan’ …she said it was unbelievable bc it took her 3 months to loose the 20 pounds and 4 days (after shooting) to put it back on…only difference is she was never quite this skeletal!
Tom Hanks played a man dying of AIDS and didn’t go to such drastic measures. And he won and deserved his Oscar for the part. MM can’t touch Hanks’ performance.
I was thinking the same thing. He relied on his acting skills to do the heavy lifting, not a drastic physical transformation.
TOM lost twenty six pounds for Philadelphia and fifty five for Castaway
Exactly. Also, I believe MM’s character is from the very early days of AIDS when there were basically no treatments. If I recall correctly, Hanks’ character in Philadelphia was from a time when at least there were some drugs and ways to keep patients healthy-ish.
Tom Hanks lost quite a bit of weight for Philadelphia. And Castaway.
Also, Philadelphia was made in 1993, where there was still quite a stigma around about showing the ravages of HIV/AIDS in mainstream hollywood cinema. There are also significant portions of the movie told in flashback to when he had just received his HIV+ status.
http://www.destinationhollywood.com/celebrities/tomhanks/images/tomhanks_philadelphia_01.jpg
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IPXGawYznno/0.jpg
Well… That’s what I call striving for a performance.. Or should I say starving for the Oscar…?
It’s just a movie? Really? All this for a ….movie?
Words I NEVER thought would wont meet in a serious sentence.
‘Matthew McConaughey’ and ‘Academy Award’
don’t worry. it’s never gonna happen.
Me in my faux-concern voice: “Oh God what did they do to my MM?”
he will be fine. 🙂
God, he looks older than his mother.
Bloody hell.
Is it possible to concern troll over the concern trolling to promote a movie? MM an Oscar? Bale is a better actor and he didn’t get one for his physical transformation. DeNiro did (he gained a lot of weight for Raging Bull), but his performance deserved it. Hanks won an Oscar for his portrayal of an AIDS victim, but he didn’t lose a ton of weight to do it. MM isn’t as respected as any of these actors. It will take more than weight loss to get him recognition. This is great early publicity for his film.
This can’t be healthy. The repercussions to his body in the long run can’t be worth a little trophy. Plus i can’t help wondering how freaked out his kids (who cant understand or care for his weigh loss motives)must be to see their dad looking so sick.
Good point about the kids. Eek.
WTF kind of scarf is that? Looks like a big red question mark around his neck
He looks like some of those men who survived Andersonville.
I worry about his little kids – this has got to be kind of unsettling for them to see. Maybe they’re older and I don’t remember?
The reason this drastic weight loss worries me is because it can severely harm a person’s heart. I don’t doubt that Matt Damon suffered health issues for years after he dropped that weight; I worry for Christian Bale too, he’s gained/lost large amounts of weight quite a few times. I hope that MM IS seeing a doctor, but all you have to do is look at his eyes; he looks like he feels awful. THAT is worrying too.
Method acting=awards. As terrible as he looks, I’m sure he has a team of professionals and it’s not quite as bad as Bale…who went overboard for the Machinist. It’s interesting how Matthew started off as a serious actor, morphed into the male version of Jennifer Aniston, and now is back trying to be a serious actor.
Going from his muscular, buff “Magic Mike” role to this new character is a bit shocking.
Anything to try and win that gold statue huh.
I think it’s good he is going back to more serious roles however.
I agree. He showed such a lot of talent in A Time to Kill and I was really disappointed to see him waste his time with so much romcom dross.
He’s had really good reviews for his performances in Mud and Killer Joe recently, so hopefully this is a sign he’s moved out of that phase for good.
He has aged 20 years…for God’s sake finish this movie and go have a cheeseburger!
There are actresses in Hollwood who spend their entire careers in varying degrees of malnourished/underweight. I’ve heard more than one speak in interviews about the fact that they fit into sample sizes and get attention by being willing to be perpetually hungry. Going skinny for a role is only fractionally as harsh as doing it for an entire career.
I know he is doing this for a role, and since he is a smart, normally health conscious guy, I am sure he has medical supervision, however it is still hard to look at him. I think I need to go watch Magic Mike and let those images of his perfect body wash out my eyes from these. I wish him the best with this and the role though and plan on checking out the movie. MM is one of those guys you cannot help but love.
I get that this is for a role and he’s getting into character. That being said, he is clearly severely underweight. He has a pretty good chance of having very serious and possibly permanent health problems even after he returns to a healthy weight.
Thanks for the auspicious writeup. It actually was former a happiness detail it. Peep compound to far delivered welcome from you! But, how can we retain up a agreement?