Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence says she does not identify as a method actor and becomes the character only after putting on her costume.

The actress, 27, who was last seen playing a Russian ballerina-turned-operative in Red Sparrow, said the film’s director Francis Lawrence asked her to talk to her friends in an accent to stay in character — a suggestion she refused. “For two weeks before the movie, Francis would say, ‘You should talk in the accent at home. Stay in the accent.’ I said, ‘Francis, I don’t have those kinds of friends. They would never call me again’,” she told Star magazine.

Lawrence added she spent months getting the accent right and it was tough as it was the first time she was playing a foreigner. “... So I spent four months before the movie figuring out what kind of dialect she would have. Once you get there and you have the costume on, you become the character and it’s easier,” the actress added.