10 Actors Most Comfortable Playing The Grotesque

Matthew McConaughey’s career had grown stagnant by 2010. While still enjoying A-List status, he had starred in a long list of sub-par movies in roles that didn’t challenge the talented actor.

Shaking off the cobwebs, McConaughey moved from his usual complacent roles, and into the Academy Awards Best Actor category, with his performance in Dallas Buyer’s Club.

Taking place during the AIDs epidemic of the 1980s, McConaughey’s Ron Woodroof was one of the first people to contract the disease and go through rudimentary treatment. Realising that the medicine prescribed was doing far worse to his immune system than good, Woodroof begins to find alternatives for others infected.

For the role, McConaughey lost almost 40 pounds to convincingly look like an AIDs victim.

Three years later, the man who says ‘alright’ too much, starred in Gold. This time, packing on the pounds to convey the main character’s overweight frame. In the movie, a mushy McConaughey sweats over the desire for more and more riches. Becoming the physical embodiment of greed, McConaughey appears comfortable in this darker, vindictive role.

With his turn towards playing more troubled characters, either limited by their health or their desires, McConaughey's work has revitalised his career, and made him one of the most respected actors of his generation.