Matthew McConaughey turns 44 on Monday. A potential Oscar nominee for his lauded turn as a homophobic party boy who contracts HIV in "Dallas Buyers Club," McConaughey is having a banner year.


Part of that attention comes as a result of the many headlines he generated for losing 47 pounds to take on the role -- fodder for both gossip bloggers and Academy Award voters. The process prompted him to seek advice from Tom Hanks, who knows something about extreme weight fluctuations for movies.


Here are some actors who've dropped serious pounds for roles.



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  • Matthew McConaughey


    <strong>Movie:</strong> "Dallas Buyers Club" (2013) <strong>Role:</strong> Ron Woodruff, a Texas rodeo cowboy who is diagnosed with HIV and given 30 days to live <strong>Weight loss:</strong> More than 40 pounds, eliminated by <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/365424/skinny-matthew-mcconaughey-dishes-on-his-shocking-weight-loss" target="_blank">cardio and diet</a>




  • Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson


    <strong>Movie:</strong> "All Things Fall Apart" (2011) <strong>Role:</strong> Deon, a celebrated football player battling cancer <strong>Weight loss:</strong> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/28/50-cents-weight-loss-deta_n_593953.html" target="_blank">More than 50 pounds</a>




  • Christian Bale


    <strong>Movie:</strong> "The Fighter" (2011) <strong>Role:</strong> Professional boxer Dicky Eklund, who suffered from a crack addiction <strong>Weight loss:</strong> "I never got on a scale. I didn't want it to be about the numbers; I wanted it to be about the look," Bale <a href="http://watch.accesshollywood.com/video/christian-bale-exposes-dramatic-weight-loss-details-for-the-fighter/1314801535001?utm_source=accesshollywood.com&utm_medium=referral" target="_blank">told "Access Hollywood."</a>




  • Christian Bale


    <strong>Movie:</strong> "The Machinist" (2004) <strong>Role:</strong> A machinist with intense insomnia <strong>Weight loss:</strong> 63 pounds. "I had what could be called a kind of stupid feeling of invincibility, like, 'Oh I can do it. I can manage it,'" <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/christian-bales-weight-loss-machinist-this-66659.html" target="_blank">Bale said</a>.




  • Colin Farrell


    <strong>Movie:</strong> "Triage" (2011) <strong>Role:</strong> A photojournalist with PTSD <strong>Weight loss:</strong> 44 pounds, thanks to a diet of only tuna, coffee and diet soda




  • Matt Damon


    <strong>Movie:</strong> "Courage Under Fire" (1996) <strong>Role:</strong> An Army medic who goes AWOL <strong>Weight loss:</strong> 40 pounds, which was reportedly shed via daily running and a diet of chicken breast, egg whites and one plain baked potato per day along with large amounts of coffee and cigarettes




  • Matthew Fox


    <strong>Movie:</strong> "Alex Cross" (2012) <strong>Role:</strong> Picasso, a professional assassin who participates in an underground ultimate-fighting ring <strong>Weight loss:</strong> "It was circuit training until I wanted to puke," <a href="http://www.mensfitness.com/leisure/entertainment/matthew-fox-uncensored-the-alex-cross-star-talks-about-career-and-controversy" target="_blank">Fox said</a> of the 40 pounds he shed to play the chronically fit serial killer.




  • Michael Fassbender


    <strong>Movie:</strong> "Hunger" (2008) <strong>Role:</strong> Bobby Sands, who led a Provisional Irish Republican Army hunger strike in 1981 <strong>Weight loss:</strong> 42 pounds after adopting <a href="http://www.contactmusic.com/news/michael-fassbender-recalls-weight-loss-horror_1223716" target="_blank">a diet of 600 calories a day</a>, heavy on nuts and berries




  • Seth Rogen


    <strong>Movie:</strong> "The Green Hornet" (2011) <strong>Role:</strong> Britt Reid/The Green Hornet <strong>Weight loss:</strong> 40 pounds with the help of a personal trainer




  • Tom Hanks


    <strong>Movie:</strong> "Philadelphia" (1993) <strong>Role:</strong> Andrew Beckett, a lawyer dying of AIDS <strong>Weight loss:</strong> Nearly 30 pounds




  • Tom Hanks


    <strong>Movie:</strong> "Cast Away" (2000) <strong>Role:</strong> Chuck Noland, a systems analyst whose airplane crashes and strands him alone in the Pacific Ocean <strong>Weight loss:</strong> Hanks gained 50 pounds to portray the pudgy Chuck and then <a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20272551,00.html" target="_blank">had to shed the weight</a> to depict his growing state of emaciation while stranded.