Jemal Countess/Getty Images/Venturelli/WireImageMatthew McConaughey is no stranger to changing his appearance for his movie roles, notably gaining some (more) muscle as a strip club owner in Magic Mike.
But when the 43-year-old had to drop a massive amount of weight to portray an HIV-positive man in Dallas Buyers Club, he called a veteran in the weight loss department: Tom Hanks.
"I actually called Tom and had a great conversation with him about what he learned about losing weight for Philadelphia and Cast Away," the actor told People at the Dallas Buyers Club junket in Beverly Hills on Saturday, Oct. 12. "And I consulted a nutritionist about the best way to do this."
And while the Captain Phillips star gave McConaughey some of his tips, Hanks can no longer gain or lose weight for movie roles after recently revealing that he has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
"I went to the doctor and he said, 'You know those high blood sugar numbers you've been dealing with since you were 36? Well, you've graduated. You've got Type 2 diabetes, young man,'" the 57-year-old Oscar winner shared with David Letterman on Monday, Oct. 7.
For his part, McConaughey looked unrecognizable in his portrayal of Ron Woodruff, a real-life Texas electrician who contracted HIV in the 1980s through IV drug use. His starting weight was 185 lbs., and he reached his unbelievable goal of 145 lbs.
"I was going around and people were going, 'Hey, are you feeling all right?'" McConaughey said. "But then I hit 135 lbs. I ran in to somebody and they didn't just ask if I was all right, they said, 'My God, we need to get you some help.' And I thought, 'There we go. That's the perfect spot.'"
And while many feared that McConaughey, who looked extremely gaunt, took his dramatic weight loss too far, he admits that he was "organized" about his diet.
"I fed myself good food, just not much of it," the actor said. "I found through this journey that the human body is much more resilient than we give it credit for."