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 The scrappiest of the nine films nominated for a best picture
Oscar on Thursday cost just $4 million to make — a speck on a
Hollywood studio spreadsheet — and 25 days to film.
But the real-life story of an unlikely activist in the fight
against AIDS drew big talent, like Matthew McConaughey who plays
the lead role of Ron Woodroof, Jared Leto as his transsexual
side-kick, Rayon, and up-and-coming Canadian director Jean-Marc
Vallee.
Co-producer Robbie Brenner, after earning her first Oscar
nomination with the best picture nod, remembered how they were
handicapped by the lack of money.
"When we told Jean-Marc that he was going to have less days, he
said 'I am going to get rid of the lights, I am going to shoot
the movie without lights,'" she told Reuters after what she
called "tears and screams" upon hearing Thursday's news.
"Dallas Buyers Club" garnered six nominations in total,
predictably for McConaughey and Leto who both shed dozens of
pounds (kilos) for their roles and were rewarded with Golden
Globes last Sunday for best actor in a drama and best supporting
actor, respectively.
The film took 20 years to make from script inception and was
touch-and-go even after McConaughey got involved in pulling
together financing.
"I'm like, wow, this little story that was declined and rejected
137 times. This little story that was around for 20 years that
never could get made," McConaughey told Reuters soon after the
pre-dawn nomination announcements, injecting a few "wahoos!" in
the interview.
"Dallas Buyers Club," from Focus Features, a unit of Comcast
Corp's Universal Pictures, premiered at the Toronto
International Film Festival in September to favorable reviews
and was released in November. It has earned $16 million at the
North American box office.
"NEVER SAY DIE"
While McConaughey, once a hunky staple of the romantic comedy
genre, has had several acclaimed roles in the last year, his
portrayal of the homophobic Texan who fights for AIDS treatment
after he contracts the disease in the 1980s is the one that got
critics talking about the new, more serious direction in his
career.
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 "What it means for my career is that I can't wait to
go back to work again, tomorrow morning, whenever that is,"
McConaughey said. "I'm really, really having a wonderful moment in
my career now."
Leto, who came back to film after a six-year break to focus on
music, said the nominations are "a testament to hard work and
independent cinema and to art house film."
"Hopefully, it gives people the encouragement to continue to make
smart films, films that are different and films that kind of maybe
contain more difficult subject matter," said Leto, who is currently
biding his time on Los Angeles jury duty.
Woodroof died in 1992, seven years after being diagnosed with AIDS,
and by then he had organized a "buyers club" for mostly gay male
AIDS patients to acquire drugs not available in hospitals in the
early days of the AIDS crisis and battling in court for access to
better treatment.
And for co-producer Rachel Winter, the determination
of Woodroof infused the film and its cast and crew with a defiant
attitude.
"He didn't want to lay down and die, he wanted to stand up and
fight. That's why we wanted to tell this story," she said.
"We had so many hurdles, but it was very much a 'never say die'
attitude from the top down," she added.
When she heard the news this morning, that put her in the elite best
picture category with some of Hollywood's biggest producers, Winter
said she reverted to her days as a Valley girl, with the signature
exclamations of L.A.'s San Fernando Valley.
"I think I said 'Oh my God,' like, 45 times. It was the only thing
coming out of my mouth," she said.
(Editing by Sandra Maler)
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