Sarah Paulson has "nightmares" about her Emmy win being a hoax.

Sarah Paulson

Sarah Paulson

The 41-year-old actress recently picked up the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie - her first gong from the glitzy award ceremony - for her portrayal of Marcia Clark in 'The People vs. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story'. Now, she has admitted that for a while she had horrible "midnight terrors" in which she didn't actually win.

Speaking to 'Entertainment Tonight', the star said: "I have [the award] in a place where I can see it from my bed, so when I wake up in a midnight terror that I didn't actually win it, I can see it. Just to calm myself down.

"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]'."

However, the beauty - who is in a relationship with fellow actress Holland Taylor - insisted the bad dreams wore off a few days after the event, and she no longer suffers and can enjoy her award for what it is.

The 'American Horror Story' star also compared the award to her future wedding, saying that her and the real Marcia Clark - who accompanied Sarah to the awards - were constantly being congratulated by people.

She said: "That night was a bit like -- I'm not married, but what I imagine my own wedding would be. There were so many well-wishers and wonderful, congratulatory moments with people that every time I went to take a bite of food it was like: Put the fork down. Stand up. Say hi. I'll introduce them to Marcia. People spend months picking out their wedding cake and then they don't even get to taste it. It was like that."