Ryan Gosling Almost Cost Matthew McConaughey His Oscar-Winning Role

Jean-Marc Vallée's 2013 biographical film "Dallas Buyers Club" is considered controversial for many reasons. It tells the true story of Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey), who was diagnosed with AIDS in the mid-1980s, right when the American presidential administration was doing as little as possible to address the spread of the disease. Woodruff heard that many life-saving AIDS and HIV drugs were available in other countries, and would smuggle those drugs into the United States and set up a "buyer's club" for people who needed them. Woodruff's story was first reported in 1992 by the Dallas News.

There was some controversy over Matthew McConaughey's portrayal of Woodruff, as he was written to be gruff, aggressive, and pointedly homophobic at the start of the film, and only became sensitive to the plight of queer people when he began meeting them at clinics. There are some who say (as a Slate article pointed out) that Woodruff wasn't homophobic but, in fact, openly bisexual. But by making him straight in the movie, "Dallas Buyers Club" is telling a story about the plight of the queer community through the eyes of a heterosexual outsider. Also, Jared Leto plays a fictional trans woman named Rayon in "Dallas Buyers Club," and one might immediately ask why a trans actress was not cast in the role. Both McConaughey and Leto won Academy Awards for their performances. It was also nominated for Best Picture. 

As it so happens, Matthew McConaughey almost didn't play Bob Woodruff. Indeed, the script for a "Dallas Buyers Club" movie (as detailed by the Hollywood Reporter) had been floating around Hollywood since as early as 1996. That project eventually mutated and floated over toward Ryan Gosling sometime around 2008. McConaughey wouldn't come on board until Gosling dropped out. 

Back in 1992, shortly before the real Bob Woodruff passed away, screenwriter Craig Borton had a chance to sit down with him and get his story on the record, intending to turn it into a screenplay. A 2014 NPR article detailed the prolonged Development Hell the screenplay endured. In 1996, Dennis Hopper was attached as a director, and Woody Harrelson was attached to play Bob. 

That version of "Dallas Buyers Club" fell through, as the company that bought the script went bankrupt. In 2000, Borton teamed up with Melisa Wallack to rewrite his script, and the pair attracted the attention of director Marc Forster and star Brad Pitt. Several more years passed, and director Craig Brewer came on board, with star Ryan Gosling in tow. News of that casting was actually announced in a 2008 article in Empire Magazine. It should be noted that by 2008, Gosling was officially in the public eye. He rose to prominence on TV as a teenager, and broke into the Hollywood mainstream in 2001 with his performance in the neo-Nazi drama "The Believer." He starred in several notable indie films like "Lars and the Real Girl" (which he made with Craig Gillespie) and "Half Nelson" and was already an official heartthrob thanks to 2004's mega-hit "The Notebook." "Dallas Buyers Club" was right in the middle of his radar. 

In the Hollywood Reporter article, producer Robbie Brenner only recalled the constant rejections and shootdowns. "It got rejected 87 times," he said. "[Studios] said: 'AIDS isn't hot-button anymore. It's period. Script's great, but it's been around too long.'" 

Craig Borton recalled in the NPR interview what a blow it was when "Dallas Buyers Club" kept getting passed on, time and time again. This was an important screenplay to him, and seeing Gosling and Brewer pass on it was just one of many metaphorical punches to his face. Borton recalled falling into such a deep state of despair that he became hooked on various substances. Which ones? "It was everything," he said. After a span of being hooked on everything, Borton was placed in rehab by his co-screenwriter Melisa Wallack, and stayed there for a spell. 

Luckily, right as his stint was ending, the pair miraculously secured the rights to "Dallas Buyers Club" back from the studio, freeing them to start shopping it around again. This was in 2009. It was around that time that they brought on producer Robbie Brenner, who attracted Matthew McConaughey's attention. The late Jean-Marc Vallée signed on to direct in 2011. The rest is history. 

One cannot say if Gosling's presence in the lead role would have hurt or helped "Dallas Buyers Club," although one can posit that it certainly would have been easier on Borton. The resulting film is, as mentioned, controversial, even if the Academy seemed to like McConaughey and Leto in their respective roles. /Film called it one of McConaughey's best movies. It was also a hit, making a pretty good $55 million on its $5 million budget. And, at the very least, the public at large was now alerted to the story of Ron Woodruff and yet another tragic wrinkle of the AIDS crisis.