Sarah Paulson financially supported Pedro Pascal at the start of his career

Sarah Paulson supported Pedro Pascal financially when he struggled to find success in the early days of his career.

The American Horror Story actress told Esquire how she helped her longtime friend when he returned to New York in the early 2000s after a stint in Los Angeles.

"He's talked about this publicly," Paulson said, "but there were times when I would give him my per diem from a job I was working on so that he could have money to feed himself."

The actress became friends with The Last of Us star when they both attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in the early '90s.

"We would go to see movies all the time in those years and we would get so lost in them," she recalled. "You can fill in the blanks about the why of that however you like, but I think there were things we wanted to escape mentally, emotionally, spiritually."

Pascal wondered if he would ever get his big break and considered letting go of his dream if nothing happened by the time he turned 29. Fortunately for the 48-year-old, his fortunes turned around and he is now one of the most in-demand actors.

For Paulson, she is "really excited" that Pascal has become a "superstar" thanks to The Mandalorian and The Last of Us as well as movies such as Wonder Woman 1984 and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

"Everybody wants a piece of him," she shared. "You just want him to succeed. And that to me, I feel like, is the sign of a major movie star. I'm ready for him to take the reins from the guys from romantic comedies past, like Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson and all these guys. He can be all that. Let's remake Die Hard with Pedro. Remake all the Lethal Weapon movies with Pedro."