Here's What Matthew McConaughey Studied In School

Matthew McConaughey studied radio-television-film while attending the University of Texas and graduated from the school with a Bachelor's in 1993, per Marie Claire. Given the trajectory of his career, it would appear as though this was always McConaughey's plan when he enrolled at the school, but that actually isn't the case.

In October 2020, McConaughey appeared on the "5 Questions with Dan Schwabel" podcast (via Insider) where he revealed the career path he almost chose instead. "I always thought I was going to be a lawyer. I went to the University of Texas with the idea that I'm going to go become a defense attorney."

So, what changed? McConaughey said, "I hadn't really been sleeping well with the idea of becoming a lawyer — the idea that I needed a couple more years to graduate, then I need to go to law school and need to find a job, that I wouldn't be able to put an imprint in the world and execute something until I was in my 30s, basically."

Around this time, a friend encouraged him to get in front of the camera, which is what ultimately caused McConaughey to consider film school. Before he switched majors, though, he wanted to seek approval from his father first. When McConaughey called his dad to tell him his plan, his father replied with a simple, "Don't half-a** it" (per Insider). Clearly, he took this advice to heart!