Sarah Paulson's brutal yet powerful friendship rule could change your life.

episodeIt would appear that one of the most enviable things in Hollywood is not an Oscar, a Marvel franchise, or even a quick trip to space on a Jeff Bezos-funded spaceship, but rather a friendship with actress Sarah Paulson.

The Emmy, Golden Globe, and Tony award-winning actress, known for her roles in the American Horror Story franchise, The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, and the critically acclaimed Netflix series Ratched, is a name that always causes the entertainment industry to gush.

Kim Kardashian has described her wit and warmth. Beanie Feldstein called her "One of the greatest friends I've ever known.' The late Diane Keaton said Paulson 'made her heart sing'. While Pedro Pascal has said to her 'There is no me without you. Without you, I wouldn't believe in the moon or the sun in the sky.'

Watch: Our awkward interview with Kim Kardashian. Post continues below.

At this moment in time, we've just watched the 51-year-old actress play one of the most unfriendly characters to ever grace our TV screens, the acid-tongued lawyer Carrington Lane in Ryan Murphy's legal drama All's Fair.

The series, which has just been renewed for a second season following the season one finale, has been making headlines since its premiere. First for its slew of unfavourable, one-star reviews, then for becoming the biggest series premiere for a scripted Hulu original in three years.

Love it or hate it, the show is a smorgasbord of show-stopping outfits and cutting one-liners, most of which were delivered by Carrington and aimed at the women who make up her rival law firm, played by Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, and Glenn Close.

While the series has its comedic and absurdist moments, there is also an undercurrent of power running just beneath the surface of every episode. A power struggle that comes with the creation of an all-female law firm defecting from a male-dominated one, the dynamic shift of divorce, and business partnerships that run into enemy territory.

Listen to a Brutally Honest review of All's Fair. Post continues below.

With that in mind, when speaking to Paulson about her performance in All's Fair and the power plays in the series I asked her if there had ever been a moment in her long and celebrated career where she felt like she had lost her power and needed to take it back.

After taking a few moments to consider my question, Paulson confessed that the one moment where she really had felt compelled to take her power back had nothing to do with her professional life, but rather her personal one.

The woman who is known as a coveted friend in Hollywood circles said she took her power back when she felt able to cut friends out of her life for good, after they failed to meet one key friendship requirement.

"I think I've done it more in life than in work environments," she replied when asked about her most powerful moments.

"Actually, by way of mostly just trimming the fat, I feel as I have gotten older, my circle of friends has gotten smaller. I just don't feel like I have interest in or time for spending time on friendships where I feel like it's not being reciprocated.

"It has just become very clear to me what I require and what I can give in life, also what I expect to be given in return," she continued.

"If someone can't do that, if they can't reciprocate what I'm giving, then that's it. I wasn't able to do that before; I think I had too many feelings or I was too worried about too many things. Now I'm a little better at that kind of self-care, but it's not something I've had to think about at work.

"I've been very lucky," she said. "I've been working for almost a decade with Ryan Murphy a lot, and I feel like there is nothing more powerful than a man who's that powerful and then empowers you. He has given me countless roles to play that are all different, and has continued to just be like 'I choose you'.

"And for whatever reason, that has been a very confidence-building thing for me," she continued, speaking about her longtime collaborative partnership with Murphy. "So I happen to have a very strong male presence in my life who has been very, very generous with me."

Sarah Paulson as Carrington Lane in All's Fair. Image: Disney+

On the surface, Paulson's friendship rule could come across as callous rather than powerful, yet when you really examine her words there is something brutal yet freeing about the way she has chosen to 'trim the fat' when it comes to her inner circle.

Instead of a rejection, it feels very much like a mark of respect and love to her friends that she sees them was a 'want' rather than a 'need', feeling powerful and secure enough to cut the people out the people who don't add value to her life and cling to the ones that do.

As we grow older, friendships become harder to cultivate and maintain, so it's easy to hold onto the ones we have even if they no longer fulfill us. Much like a game of musical chairs at a party that's coming to an end, we don't want to the one perosn standing alone in a room once the music stops.

So maybe, moving forward, it's time for all of us to try Sarah Paulson's power move, and practice the self care that is cutting friends out of our lives who no longer deserve to be there.

The first season of All's Fair is now streaming on Disney+.

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here for more entertainment news and recommendations.

Feature Image: Disney+