Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto and
Jennifer Garner star in a featurette for the film Dallas Buyers
Club, which opens in select cities Friday.
In the movie, McConaughey plays a
homophobe who acquires HIV and develops a working relationship with
Rayon, an HIV-positive transgender woman played by Jared Leto.
The film is loosely based on the life
of Ron Woodroof, a foulmouthed womanizer who in 1986 was diagnosed
with HIV/AIDS and given 30 days to live. He was prescribed AZT, the
only legal drug available at the time in the United States, but the
drug's side effects brought Woodroof to the brink of death. With the
help of his doctor, Eve Saks (played by Jennifer Garner) and Rayon,
Woodroof created the nation's first club selling alternative and
experimental treatments to combat HIV/AIDS. He died in 1992, 2,161
days later than doctors had anticipated.
The featurette, released last week by
Focus Features, takes a behind-the-scenes look at the film. (The
video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
McConaughey, who lost nearly 50 pounds
for the role, personally championed the film's production.