Jennifer Lawrence's sexy shoot was strategic 'career move'

Jennifer Lawrence agreed to strip off for a racy magazine photoshoot because she knew the sizzling bikini pictures would land her more movie roles.

Lawrence feared she would be typecast after her Oscar-nominated turn playing a tough Ozark Mountain girl in the drama Winter's Bone, so she agreed to a skimpy swimsuit spread for Esquire magazine to show off her sexy side.

The Hunger Games star was criticised for the raunchy poses and barely-there swimming costumes, but she's convinced the shoot was a "good career move".

She tells Britain's The Times, "At the time it was very difficult for people to see me as a woman, or sexy, or beautiful. I was just the Winter's Bone wilderness-type girl. And so I did the Esquire shoot and it was a good career move.

"I never put myself out there and said, 'Yes, I'm going to fight for women's rights and be a feminist.' Yes, I love women, but I'm also an actor. And if my career is suffering because of something I'm going to fix it."