Sarah Paulson on the rigors of 'Hold Your Breath' and being Holland Taylor's Emmy date

Sarah Paulson is in familiar territory: screaming in fear on a Hulu screen near you.

The “American Horror Story” actress, 49, stars in the psychological thriller “Hold Your Breath” (streaming Thursday). Set in 1930s Dust Bowl-era Oklahoma, Paulson plays Margaret, a mother who feels that something or someone is threatening her children. As her paranoia sets in, Margaret resorts to extreme measures to protect her two daughters.

And then of course, there’s the scream. Just a question about it elicits a laugh before Paulson breaks down what goes into the performance.

“If I'm screaming onstage, there is a big vocal warm-up that's happening, and a vocal comedown (after),” she says. For film or TV, “I am a little more loosey-goosey about it because I know I'll have a little bit more recovery time.”

That’s not to say onscreen screams aren’t physically taxing. Paulson recalls a moment during “AHS” where she “had to have a steroid shot in the old derrière to get me through the day.”

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Don’t try and pitch her on any type of healing beverage, either.

Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox.

“Water is good to keep your vocal cords moist but the teas don't really do anything,” Paulson explains. “It's like a hair product: It's just creating a barrier to make it look less frizzy but it's not actually making it less frizzy.

“Cut to like 400 doctors writing to me on Instagram being like, ‘This is not so.’ ”

The cost of 'rigorous honesty' for Sarah Paulson: dirt in her eye

“Hold Your Breath” was filmed in New Mexico, and stagehands built the character's home in Santa Fe. Other scenes took place on a soundstage. While some special effects were used, Paulson reveals that many scenes took place in the midst of real dust blowing via fans going 75 mph. 

“We had a specific hand signal that we would do if the dust was too much or I couldn't actually see or if I got something in my eye,” she recalls. “We got into a little bit of a back-and-forth about how dangerous vs. how hyper-real that they wanted to make (the scenes). And I was always like, ‘I just want you to push it, just put a little bit more wind on me, just a little bit more dirt in the air’ because the more real it could be for me, I thought the more truthful my performance would be.

“I'm just interested in authenticity. I'm interested in a kind of rigorous honesty in my work and in my life. And so sometimes with that comes some things you don't always want, like a big ol' piece of dirt in your eye.”

Sarah Paulson is savoring her awards-season firsts

Paulson, who won an Emmy for her portrayal of prosecutor Marcia Clark in FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” returned to the Emmys in September. She did so as both a past winner and a plus one for her partner, Holland Taylor, who was nominated for best supporting actress in “The Morning Show.”

“It was my first time getting to go as Holland's plus one and that was a really fun, sweet thing,” Paulson says. The couple began dating in 2015 and were at home during the virtual Emmy broadcast for Taylor’s 2020 nomination. “This was the first time I was like, ‘Let me hold your purse’ and you know, ‘Are you eating enough snacks?’ and all those things that one does for someone.”

Paulson experienced a much-different first in June, winning a Tony Award for her role in “Appropriate.” Will she return to Broadway? Yes, she says, without elaborating, only joking that it might happen “sooner than anyone would like.”

“It's like I took a 10-year break from the theater and then all of a sudden it's like every year there's going to be a new Sarah Paulson thing,” she says. “People are going to be like, ‘Go home! Sit down. Nobody wants to see it anymore.’ ”