By Alexis Tereszcuk - Breaking Celebrity News Entertainment Editor

Matthew McConaughey’s drastic weight loss for his latest role has the former hunk looking like skin and bones but he’s defending the look and says he’s losing the weight in a “really healthy way” and is “not being starved.”

He is playing a man who has AIDS in the upcoming film The Dallas Buyers Club and he’s dropped to a shocking 143 pounds, but he defended the extreme weight loss and says he is not just eating one cracker a day.

“I feel fine. I really do,” the 43-year-old actor -- who’s 6 feet tall -- said about his shocking transformation.

The movie is based on the true story of Ron Woodruff, a drug-using straight man who was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS in 1986 and fought the government and the U.S. pharmaceutical industry to get access to anti-viral drugs being used against HIV in other countries.

“I got the means to lose the weight in a really healthy way. I’m eating fresh fish. I’m just eating small amounts. I’m not being starved,” Matthew told The Daily Beast.

Photos from the set show the usually buff Texan on set looking incredibly skinny and gaunt, but he says he’s not suffering from dropping the pounds.

“I’m sleeping well. I’ve got clean meals that I’m cooking for myself. It’s just really an exercise in discipline. If anyt