McConaughey loses 30 pounds for film role

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LOS ANGELES, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. actor Matthew McConaughey has lost 30 pounds to play a man suffering from AIDS in the film "The Dallas Buyer's Club," People.com said.

The 42-year-old actor, who is known for his active lifestyle and chiseled physique, has looked gaunt and weak in recent photos due to the drastic weight loss, but that is all part of his plan.

"I should not look healthy by the time I'm doing this," McConaughey told Larry King's Ora TV web series "Larry King Now" in July.

"It's a bit of a spiritual cleanse, mental cleanse," he told King. "[I'm] drinking a lot of tea ... It takes a while for your body to understand that it has to feed off of itself and that you're not going to give it something else from the outside."