The actor turned to Tom Hanks, who shed the pounds for his role as FedEx employee Robert Zemeckis in ‘The Castaway’ and lawyer Andrew Beckett in ‘Philadelphia.’
The veteran won Oscars for his roles in both films. ‘I actually called Tom and had a great conversation with him about what he learned about losing weight for Philadelphia and Cast Away.’
Matthew had to drop 50 lbs to play a hustler suffering from AIDS in his latest flick, Dallas Buyers Club. The film- which also stars Jennifer Garner- shows Matthews character selling HIV drugs before they became licensed by pharmaceutical companies. Starting at 185 lbs, Matthew was known for his muscley physique.
After reaching his initial goal of 145 lb, the actor chose to continue with his regime. He said: ‘I was going around and people were going, “Hey, are you feeling alright?”
The heartthrob eventually reaching a shockingly skinny 135 lbs. Matthew discussed the reaction he received for his dramatic weight loss: ‘I ran into 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.”
The Hollywood star’s co-star in 'Dallas Buyers Club,' Jared Leto, no doubt had some tricks up his sleeve to aid Matthew in his drastic weight loss. Jared lost 30 lbs to play a transsexual woman with AIDS in the movie. He lost 25 lbs for his role in 'Requiem for a Dream' in 2007.
The movie, which is out in the UK early next year, has already generated whisperings of a potential Oscar nod.