Matthew McConaughey is getting well-deserved Oscar buzz for his performance as real life cowboy turned AIDS activist Ron Woodroof in "Dallas Buyer's Club," which expands in theaters this weekend.
But before McConaughey jumped on board, the film was actually stuck in development hell for over 15 years with various other actors, including Brad Pitt and Woody Harrelson, attached to play the role.
Most recently, even Ryan Gosling was set to play Woodroof for his "Lars and the Real Girl" director, Craig Gillespie, but when their film was hit with financial issues, Gosling had to turn the part down to focus on other projects.
Matthew was later cast for director Jean-Marc Vallee's vision of the film, giving a transformative performance – and losing a whopping 40 pounds – for some of the best reviews of his career!
This isn't the first time an A-lister has turned down a big role -- you won't believe who was the first choice to play Maximus in "Gladiator."
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