Sarah Paulson is too "nervous" to watch any of her own work.

Sarah Paulson

Sarah Paulson

The 41-year-old actress recently won her first Primetime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Marcia Clark in 'The People vs O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story', but admits the pressure from the compliments she received prevented her from being able to watch the show, as she was worried she'd start "ripping it to shreds".

Speaking to Vanity Fair magazine, the blonde beauty said: "I'm in this new kick of never watching anything I do anymore. I haven't watched 'O.J ...' I didn't watch my Sally [on 'American Horror Story: Hotel']. I haven't watched season six so far. I haven't watched 'Blue Jay'.

"It started with [playing] Marcia [Clark], it started with the 'O.J.' thing. It was the first time in my career where I really felt such an onslaught of complimentary, effusive reactions to the show itself and to my work on it, that I started to get very nervous about my typical way of watching something and ripping it to shreds when it's my own work.

The 'American Horror Story' actress admits that instead of watching her performances, she prefers to "just enjoy" what people have to say about her work.

"[So] I thought, 'What would happen if you didn't do that this time, and you just let it be what it is and don't attach your own feelings to it, and let it stand on it's own, and just enjoy people saying nice things? What if you do that instead?'"

And the star - who is in a relationship with fellow actress Holland Taylor - recently confessed to having nightmares about her Emmy win being taken away from her.

She said: "I had a nightmare that they tapped me on the shoulder and were like, 'We're going to need that back. We read the wrong name on the card.' And I said, 'But I have the card! Bryan Cranston gave me the card! I have the envelope and it says my name on it!' And he's like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a misprint.' I woke up and sort of bleary-eyed looked across and saw it, and I was like, '[Sigh of relief]'."