Starring in Dallas Buyers Club, Matthew McConaughey completely changed his career trajectory at the time. He went from the king of rom-coms, to taking home an Oscar for Best Actor in a serious film.

The prep for the role was quite intense, and the actor stayed in character throughout the film alongside Jared Leto. We’ll reveal what it was like on-set, and how Matthew McConaughey was able to lose the weight.

Just a year prior to the role, Matthew McConaughey was in a completely different position starring in Magic Mike, which received success in its own right at the box office. However, the preparation was something else compared to Dallas Buyers Club and featured intense workouts. We’ll take a look at just how different the two preps were.

Matthew McConaughey Lost 50-Pounds For Dallas Buyers Club But Didn’t Go To The Gym And Focused On His Diet

Losing 50-pounds at Matthew McConaughey’s already lean size does not sound like the healthiest idea. However, the actor revealed that he did not take on a crash diet and that instead, it was done in the healthiest way possible on a caloric deficit.

Unlike Joaquin Phoenix during his prep for The Joker, Matthew McConaughey felt a burst of energy with his lighter frame while shooting the film.

He revealed alongside Insider, “I did not torture myself. I was militant. The hardest part was making the damn choice. “I found tapioca pudding, and I found the tiniest little antique spoon in New Orleans, a little-bitty sugar spoon, and I would eat it with that so it would last longer.”

Among the other foods incorporated in the actor’s diet included fish for both lunch and dinner, along with a side of veggies which each meal and egg white for breakfast.

It seems like not only were the carbs extremely low, but given that he was eating fish and egg white, there wasn’t much fat either. Wisely, the actor didn’t work out during that time, as this might’ve crashed his energy, while it wasn’t the look he was going for either.

Matthew McConaughey Put A Major Focus On His Workouts Prior To Magic Mike

For Magic Mike it was a completely different kind of preparation. Gunnar Peterson was Matthew’s trainer at the time and he revealed some secrets as far as the actor’s prep went. The goal was to get ripped while keeping the workout intensity very high with cardio and circuits in-between.

“He wanted to look the part. He wanted to look like a guy who has run a male revue for years and has made it his life and livelihood. He wanted to be cut up and ripped up to be the old vet who can still hang with the young bucks,” Peterson tells Bodybuilding.com.

His coach continues about Matthew’s workouts, “It was a lot of interval stuff, but it was more like ADD [attention deficit disorder] cardio than just intervals with weights in between. We went from cardio modality to cardio modality. For example, we’d do something like 4 minutes on one modality, 5 minutes on another, 6 minutes on something else and then go 6, 5, 4. That’s half an hour.”

“This type of training recruits differently from a muscle standpoint. It keeps his brain engaged. Over the years, I’ve found that it’s much easier for people to push consistently for 4 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 6 minutes than to push for 15 continuous minutes. It’s very, very psychological.”

Credit to Matthew McConaughey for undergoing such diverse transformations in just a year’s time. He took on Magic Mike in 2012, while starring in Dallas Buyers Club only a year later.

Matthew McConaughey Was Deep Into Character During Dallas Buyers Club, And Didn’t Meet The Real Jared Leto Until After The Film

Not only was the prep a grind behind the scenes to look the role, but Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto also took their roles seriously, and decided to use method acting throughout the film. Matthew McConaughey reveal alongside Howard Stern to only meeting the real Jared Leto once production wrapped up.

“Leto and I didn’t meet until after the final scene of the movie,” Matthew told Howard. “When we finished, it’s a wrap, I turn around and go, ‘Leto, how’s it going?’ He goes, ‘It’s going alright, McConaughey. That was fun.’”

“That’s fun. That’s not a pain in the ass,” he said. “All actors have their different things they do. If it’s constructive to doing the best work, hey man, pour gas on the fire. Let’s go. Do it.”

The struggles and his commitment to the character all paid off, as the actor took home is first career Oscar for Best Actor. A memorable moment in his career and one he won’t forget.