10 Movie Performances Which Saved An Actor’s Career

Though he was enjoying a steady and reasonably successful acting career during his first two decades in the film industry, Matthew McConaughey still hadn't really made much of an impression outside of being the guy primarily found with his shirt off in romantic comedies and forgettable action movies.

In 2013, though, that all changed.

After first putting in a notable shift in Mud, McConaughey completely transformed, both as an actor and physically, to play Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club. As Woodroof, a real-life AIDS patient who helped smuggle unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into the state of Texas to treat himself and sell to other AIDS patients, the actor was simply mesmerising. On top of his notable weight loss for the role, it was clear we were seeing the most compelling arc McConaughey had ever tackled.

Praised as his finest turn yet, McConaughey went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Soon after this career rejuvenating performance, the actor then captivated audiences once again in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, and lit up the small screen with his work on True Detective.

He may not have knocked every project out of the park over the last few years, but this early 2010s McConaissance helped remind us exactly how damn talented this star was and still can be.