Matthew Mcconaughey has struggled to pile on the pounds after shedding a huge amount of weight for his acclaimed role in Dallas Buyers Club.

In order to play an Aids victim for the film, the actor dropped 50 pounds, leaving him looking gaunt and emaciated on the big screen.

However, MCConaughey explains that regaining the weight was more work than he had imagined, because his body was so used to being starved.

He tells Hollyscoop.com, "I gained 45 (pounds) of them back. The gaining was trickier than the losing. It's more fun, but it's also trickier.

"The first big meal that you eat, your body remembers that it lived at 182 pounds and it wants to sprint back and you have to pull the reigns and go, 'Woah! We gotta take it easy.' It's a marathon."