Movie star Matthew Mcconaughey is dreaming of a greasy cheeseburger after shedding 40 pounds (18.1 kilograms) to play a skeletal Aids victim in his latest movie The Dallas Buyer's Club.

The usually buff actor has committed to a starvation diet to lose the weight for the film role and fans have been stunned by his emaciated frame.

MCConaughey admits he faces a struggle getting back to his ideal weight once filming wraps, but he's going to celebrate with a burger.

He tells HitFix.com, "I will have some 70 per cent beef, 30 per cent fat ground beef, maybe a half-pound cheeseburger with another three types of cheese. I'll prepare it all and I'll make sure that it takes three hours just to prepare.

"I'm going to have buns with butter on both sides, toasted and grilled. I'm going to melt the cheese on the top bun, Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise. I want kosher dill pickles sliced nice and thin, diced white onions, slightly grilled until they get almost hard, and some thin jalapeno slices.

"Your organs shrink (and) my stomach has shrunk as well. So, as much as I can't wait to have that cheeseburger on the day (shooting ends), it'll probably be damn hard to eat the whole thing."