AMC's zombie thriller hit "The Walking Dead" has set ratings records left and right since it debuted in 2010. Despite almost everyone in America watching the dramatic series, and despite starring as the show's main protagonist Rick Grimes, British actor Andrew Lincoln still refuses to watch the show.

It's not because he dislikes the story, far from it. Lincoln outlined his reason for not watching every week in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"The original reason is the fact that I don't actually enjoy looking at myself," Lincoln said. "And also because of the directorial choices that possibly, because I've done it, make you go, 'Oh, there's a take that blah-blah-blah.' But mainly because I did it for a while, I watched it, and it's a self-conscious thing of watching myself and going, 'Oh I like it when I do that. That's kind of cool.' And then, 'Oh, I don't like it when I do that.' And that defeats the object of what I want to do as an actor, which is to try and be in the role and not be self-conscious. I watch great actors, great actors that I admire beyond all things and I see them replicate, and it's very hard not to. I don't want to do that. I just want to leave myself alone as much as I can. It breaks the spell, it breaks the magic somewhat."

That's all well and good but what about episodes where he isn't featured heavily. The EW interviewer brings up episode 3 of season 3 where Lincoln isn't in it at all.

"I don't even like watching that. I kind of step back from it all. The fun bit for me is doing it. I love that. That's the exciting thing for me. When I direct, the most exciting thing for me is obviously all the different stages, the three-tiered journey, the prep, the design, and you to act through the actor, and then the edit," he said. "That's when I get turned on by the whole thing. But for me, my job here is just to be as truthful as I can in this role. I don't think it's that unusual if you ask a lot of actors, because it's the same thing as not reading press or reviews. You can't do both. You can't get good stuff and not get the bad as well. That's not the exchange. So if I step back from it and don't even engage on any level, all I'm left with is the good stuff, the fun stuff, that hopefully I've enjoyed day-to-day."

Below is a sneak preview for the upcoming fourth season of the show. "The Walking Dead" returns on October 13. You can see the rest of Lincoln's interview HERE.