'Up close and unscripted': Matthew McConaughey sheds Hollywood hunk image in raw photoshoot for W magazine

He underwent a physical transformation for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, shedding 40lbs to play HIV patient Ron Woodroof.
And while he appears to have bounced back from the grueling process, Matthew McConaughey's gaunt physique is impossible to deny in a new shoot for W magazine.
Wearing a powder blue silk Gucci suit, the actor's cheeks are hollowed, his stare vacant, in the image by Juergen Teller.

Gaunt: Matthew McConaughey gives a vacant stare to the camera in a photograph by Juergen Teller for the February issue of W magazine

The publication is celebrating the year's brightest stars in its February issue, meant to capture 'the zeitgeist of Hollywood today'.
Teller, alongside Editor-at-Large Lynn Hirschberg, shot 33 actors in a 'uniquely pure, unvarnished and unplugged way that reflects the trending shift away from Hollywood glamour', Hirschberg writes.

McConaughey, who appeared on screens in 2012 in Richard Linklater's comedy crime drama Bernie, William Friedkin thriller Killer Joe, and Steven Soderbergh's dramatic comedy Magic Mike, spoke to the writer about his own Hollywood heroes.
That is namely, Paul Newman, who acting ability is one McConaughey seems to aspire to.

Then and now: McConaughey, pictured, left filming Dallas Buyers Club in December, and right, at the Sundance Film Festival this month, is working on gaining weight after shedding 40lbs for the forthcoming drama

'In Hud, Paul Newman is a real bastard, but how can you not like this despicable guy? I love seeing someone in a movie who can walk that line: no wrong, no right, no regret, no guilt,' he said.
'I know some people like that, and although I don’t trust them, I respect them. They have the courage and the personal politics to walk through life and say, "I am an island. Deal with that." There’s a clarity that is attractive.'
The actor has more demanding projects in the works.
His next film, a war drama called Thunder Run, is currently in pre-production, as is forthcoming television series True Detectives, co-starring Woody Harrelson and Michelle Monaghan.

Handsome couple: McConaughey pictured with his wife, model Camila Alves, in July 2012

McConaughey is well on his way to bulking up again for the roles.
Smiling at the Sundance Film Festival, his fuller face was a sign he's on track to restore his health - and the physique he's famous for flaunting on runs down Malibu Beach.
Still, Matthew says his mind is sharper thatn ever.
He recently told People.com: 'I have less [physical] leverage, but my mind is way sharper... You know, I love to wrestle. It's a good time to wrestle me now.'
Dallas Buyers Club is scheduled for release later this y