'It was pizza night any night!' Matthew McConaughey reveals his family nicknamed him Captain Fun as he piled on pounds for Gold

By Bobbie Whiteman For Dailymail.com

Published: 14:06 EST, 14 December 2016 | Updated: 14:38 EST, 14 December 2016

He's famous for dropping 38 pounds to play a man diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 2013 drama, The Dallas Buyer's Club.

And on Thursday Matthew McConaughey revealed to Ellen DeGeneres how much fun he had piling on some 40 pounds for his new film, Gold, in which he plays prospector Kenny Wells who finds gold in the Indonesia jungle.

The audience gasped when a shot of the distinctly chubby and balding Kenny appeared on the big screen as the 47-year-old joked, 'that's a whole lot of McConaughey.'

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Captain Fun: Matthew McConaughey revealed his family had as much fun as he did piling on 40 pounds for his role in Gold when he appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show Wednesday

And when Ellen asked: 'Is that padding or is that you?' Matthew was quick to reply saying, 'Oh, that's my padding. That's cheeseburgers and beer for eight months whenever I wanted 'em.'

The Hollywood star, who shares Levi, eight, Vida, six, and Livingston, three, with his wife Camilla, said his diet soon became really popular with his family

'My nickname in the household was Captain Fun, my wife misses all 217 pounds of me and the kids do too, because it was pizza night any night.'

The Texan native, who looked back to his hunky self in a brown leather jacket, white shirt and jeans, revealed it wasn't so much fun losing the weight, which took about six months.

Chubby and balding: The 47-year-old joked he ate cheeseburgers and beer for eight months for his role as prospector Kenny Wells, left

What a diet: 'My wife misses all 217 pounds of me and the kids do too, because it was pizza night any night,' he dished

However, Matthew has recovered some of his kudos with his kids thanks to his new animated film, Sing, in which he lends his voice to koala Buster Moon who launches a singing competition for the animals in his town.

It his second animated movie after last year's Kubo And The Two Strings.

The filming process, he said, was 'so fun, you can go in you pajamas if you want to...there's an ease and joy to it that's like being a kid.'

Yo-yo weight: Matthew famously dropped 38 pounds to play a man diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 2013 drama, The Dallas Buyer's Club

As for his own children, they have already seen in three times.

'I haven't done many things that my kids could see in a while. They saw Kubo and this and I have a little more clout in the household now - and I use it.'

Sing is due out on December 21 while Gold is due to hit the screen on January 27.

Family night out: He was joined by wife Camilla and their children - Livingston, three, Levi, eight, and Vida, six - at the Hollywood premiere of animated movie Sing on December 3

They love it: Matthew voices koala Buster Moon who launches a singing competition for the animals in his town. He joked he now has 'a little more clout' with his kids who have seen Sing three times

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

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