Matthew McConaughey believed in the strength of the Dallas Buyers Club story and was determined to get the film made.
McConaughey will return to the big screen in the new year with Dallas Buyers Club; a drama about AIDS activist Ron Woodroof.
Woodroof will be played by McConaughey, as he teams up with director Jean-Marc Vallee for the first time.
Speaking to Deadline the actor said: "It was something that I had on my desk that I was trying to do for a while, but it wasn't popular enough for anyone to come up with the money. So we were like, 'Let's find the right team.'
"Usually the message that gets to me is, it's not for them. Period piece, AIDS drama? That one line hurt. I'm sure there were many desks where that one-liner was all they read. But there was a lot of talent that had been attracted to this thing for a while.
"You know, the stars aligned, and we willed it through. We just had to get this to a price, get financing any way we could get it, which was under $5 million."
McConaughey stars alongside Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner in the film, and lost a whopping 47 pounds to play Woodroof.
McConaughey's performance is already being tipped for a Best Actor Oscar nomination; Leto is also expected to be in the Oscar mix.
Dallas Buyers Club is released 7th February
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