Bros in Emaciation: Jake Gyllenhaal in Skinny Contest With Workout Buddy Matthew McConaughey

Do the actors who bulk up together, trim down together, too?

Jake Gyllenhaal is taking a page out of workout buddy Matthew McConaughey's script by getting into scary-skinny mode.

Like McC did for his role as man suffering with AIDS in "Dallas Buyers Club," Gyllenhaal has lost a dramatic amount of weight for an upcoming film.

Yahoo Movies noticed a gaunt-looking Gyllenhaal on the red carpet at the Hollywood Film Awards in Beverly Hills on Monday. And now the actor has confirmed he dropped 20 pounds for his role as a struggling reporter in the thriller "Nightcrawler," now filming in Los Angeles.

"I knew that [he] was literally and figuratively hungry," the actor told Us Weekly of his new character. Gyllenhaal further explained he felt it necessary to get into a "mode where I was always a bit hungry."

The 6-foot-tall Gyllenhaal is nearly skeletal at his lower weight — his cheekbones visibly protruding, his eyes more sunken, and a silhouette that is significantly more puny than the muscular actor we're used to seeing in films like "Jarhead" and "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" (for which he bulked up significantly).

Still, Gyllenhaal's 20-pound loss pales in comparison to McConaughey — who says he lost up to 50 pounds for his role as Ron Woodroof, who in the '80s who fought for the rights of HIV and AIDS patients after he was diagnosed with the deadly disease. McC is the same height as Gyllenhaal.

One irony is the two actors have been friends in physical fitness. Gyllenhaal and McConaughey were spotted cycling with Lance Armstrong back in 2006 — a period when the two hunky stars were said to be in bromance mode. The two have also been known to workout with celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson (she got McC to get in touch with his inner dancer!)

"Dallas Buyers Club" enters theaters on November 1. "Nightcrawler" opens some time in 2014.

Watch 'Dallas Buyers Club' Insider Access — Weight Loss:

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