10 Actors Who Went Through Hell To Win An Oscar

2013's Dallas Buyers Club was a very significant title in Oscar history, as one of the few occasions on which both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards were given for performances in the same film.

However, while plenty can be said in favour of Jared Leto's supporting turn, McConaughey's transformation into the AIDS-afflicted Ron Woodroof was particularly harrowing, and the actor went to extreme measures to achieve it.

McConaughey reportedly lost 47 pounds in weight, becoming so weak that his eyesight was failing and even minor physical exertion left him exhausted.

He also cut himself off from human contact and stayed indoors for six months, avoiding sunlight to achieve Woodroof's deathly pale skin tone.

The hard work paid off in Oscar gold - and with his simultaneous small screen success in HBO's True Detective, 2014 marked the highest point of 'The McConaissance.'