14 DAY TRIAL // The Oscar-nominated film “The Dallas Buyers Club” took a lot out of the actors who starred in it. Main actor Matthew McConaughey reportedly lost 38 lbs (17.2 kg) and supporting actor Jared Leto is said to have gone out dressed in women's clothing.
In order to prepare for his role as an HIV-positive trans-gendered woman, Leto lost weight, and went out in public in drag during the shooting of the film.
In an interview with ShortList magazine, the 30 Seconds to Mars singer confessed that he went out dressed as a woman, “Yeah, I did [walk the streets in drag] a lot and—as pretty a woman as I thought I made—I didn’t fool anyone,” he said, rather disappointed.
He goes on to reveal the impression he made on bystanders who had no idea he was preparing for a role, “I went to the supermarket, mainly to stare at food because I wasn’t eating, and I got lots of looks.”
“Some were just like, ‘Wait, is that… that guy from films? Dressed as a woman?’ But I also got a look that was like, ‘I don’t know who or what that is, but I don’t [expletive] like it.’ A judgment, a condemnation,” Leto opens up.
Though he might not have gotten cat calls and phone numbers out on the streets, he did manage to wow critics. “The Dallas Buyers Club” has already won a great number of awards, and is a strong contender at this year's Oscars.
And he also seems to have made a strong impression on directors and producers because Leto has been flooded with numerous role proposals which will keep his acting career active for some time.
“The Dallas Buyers Club” is a film about a Dallas electrician who works around the system in 1985 to provide medication for AIDS patients after he is himself diagnosed with the disease.