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.