Lily Hiott-Millis
Staff Writer
The last movie Jennifer Garner starred in with Matthew McConaughey was Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Don’t expect anything like their performances in that movie if you go to see Dallas Buyers Club.
“Probably the best thing that happened to a lot of us is that romantic comedies have finally been dug and put into a hole in the ground,” said Jennifer Garner in an interview with Collider. “They were a great job and really fun to do. This [film] is not one.”
It sounds like, this role must have been more taxing for Garner than her past roles in romantic comedies such as 13 Going On 30, Valentine’s Day, and, of course, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Because this movie is based on true events, she had to do her research.
“Well, to play this doctor, I went back and read everything I could find from 1981-1982 to about 1988-1989… all the medical journals, everything fed to the public, everything I could find having to do with H.I.V. and AIDS,” she said. “With medical journals, it’s like reading something in Greek. It’s a whole other language.”
She also had trouble handling the emotions that the film evoked in her. Because the men in this movie are sick, they had to lose a lot of weight for the roles. It was hard for her to see McConaughey like that.
“I chatted with him and was totally normal, and then I went into another room and went, ‘Uhhhh’ and collected myself because it gave me the shakes to see him look so ill.”
And it affected her experience making the film. “I hated it. I actually hated making this movie – and I never say that – because I was so disturbed watching these boys do this to their body. I just wanted it to be over.”
You can see for yourself if it was worth it as the film is currently showing in the United States. However, it doesn’t get released in the UK until February 7.
Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
