Matthew McConaughey recalled resisting film-school pressure to favour obscure arthouse cinema over popular Hollywood films. He said he continued enjoying mainstream titles such as Ridley Scott’s *Thelma and Louise* and *Die Hard*, eventually rejecting the idea that liking commercially successful films made him less serious as an artist.

The actor described classmates dismissing studio films without having watched them, which initially made him question his own preferences. He concluded that films such as *Thelma and Louise* can be entertaining while still being artistically ambitious and capable of exploring meaningful ideas.