Actor Matthew McConaughey's current shocking gaunt appearance is a far cry from his buffed-up body in the stripper film "Magic Mike."

The 42-year-old actor became almost unrecognizable after rapidly losing 30 pounds for his upcoming role in the film "The Dallas Buyer's Club." The film is based on the true story of Ron Woodruff, a drug addict in the 1980s infected with HIV who searches for an experimental drug to prolong his life.

People.com reports that the actor was spotted leaving a church in Austin, Texas with his mother. Matthew McConaughey appeared to be really weak as he leaned on his mother for support. Now, fans are beginning to worry that the actor is seriously taking his weight loss to the extreme.

"I should not look healthy by the time I'm doing this. It's a bit of a spiritual cleanse, mental cleanse," McConaughey told Larry King back in July on the Ora TV web series "Larry King Now."

Matthew McConaughey further claimed that portraying this role is a major turn-around from his body image in the film "Magic Mike" where he worked out intensely and ate five meals of only protein everyday. Now, the actor is down to just 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," McConaughey shared.

"I'm playing a guy who was sick and would have loved to have been healthier but wasn't. For me, it's more of a mental thing than a physical thing," the actor explained. McConaughey revealed that he has only been eating small amounts of high-protein and low-carbohydrate food.

"I'll get down to the weight I need to get to. I'm on my way, and it's what I need to do for the job," McConaughey said.

"The Dallas Buyers Club" film is scheduled for a release in 2013.

RELATED STORIES