Jennifer Lawrence feared BAFTA victory was a prank

Actress Jennifer Lawrence thought she had fallen victim to a cruel joke when she was first told she had won a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award.

Lawrence won the BAFTA trophy for Best Supporting Actress for her role in American Hustle, but was unable to attend the ceremony due to filming commitments for X-Men: Days Of Future Past, so director David O. Russell collected the prize on her behalf.

The Hunger Games star was so certain she would not win the category, which also included Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years A Slave and Julia Roberts for August: Osage County, that she completely forgot the awards ceremony was taking place last Sunday (16Feb14).

She tells Deadline.com, "Oh, it was a big surprise. I didn't remember that the BAFTAs were happening that day. I certainly did not think I was going to win one so I put it out of my mind. So there I was, in the middle of being painted blue (for an X-Men character), and someone said, 'You just won the BAFTA!' And I said, 'Oh, go f**k yourself!' And then it turned out they were serious."

The actress also admits she has enjoyed keeping her distance from awards season this year (14), avoiding the stress of worrying about scooping the honors she is nominated for.

She adds, "It has been a bit of a blessing to be away, and not really aware of what has been going on,. It actually has been really nice."