Matthew McConaughey in ‘Dallas Buyers Club’/Image © Focus Features
Matthew McConaughey once embodied the laid-back good-old-guy: living in an Airstream on the beach, playing bongos naked, and choosing light action films (“Sahara”) and forgettable romantic comedies (“The Wedding Planner”) that showcased his suave, easy charm. Fast forward to today, and McConaughey has received the best reviews of his career, with a Golden Globe win and an Oscar nomination under his belt for “Dallas Buyers Club.”
The independent film casts McConaughey as Ron Woodroof, a real-life rodeo cowboy and hell-raiser who evolved into a champion for AIDS patients after his own diagnosis in the 1980s. The actor lost nearly fifty pounds to portray Woodroof, who lived about seven years past his prognosis — but his transformation is beyond physical.
“What a masterful job he does of portraying one of the more deeply flawed antiheroes in recent screen history,” critic Roger Roeper says. “We start out loathing this guy; we learn to love him. It’s an amazing performance.”
I check out six other roles that revamped the 44-year-old actor’s career from the likes of “Failure to Launch” to reaching the awards stratosphere here.