Matthew McConaughey Ate Cheeseburgers and Drank Beer for 8 Months to Gain Weight for ‘Gold’

Matthew McConaughey had a lot of fun while gaining weight for Gold.

The upcoming mining drama — which also stars Edgar Ramirez and Bryce Dallas Howard — sees McConaughey sporting a much rounder figure to play a modern-day prospector searching for gold in the jungles of Indonesia.

“[That’s] a whole lot of McConaughey,” he told Ellen DeGeneres in an Ellen segment airing Wednesday. “That’s cheeseburgers and beer for eight months, whenever I wanted them.”

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The actor said the process didn’t dampen his energy. “I did learn that the only thing that makes you tired of overindulging is the thought of quitting,” joked McConaughey, who then lost the weight over a six-month period. “My nickname in the house was Captain Fun. My wife misses all 217 pounds of me, and the kids do, too, because any night was pizza night.”

McConaughey also commented on leading the voice cast of the animated Sing — “You can go in your pajamas if you want to” — and being named People magazine’s top reason to love America: “Hot damn!”