Amy Adams says kissing Jennifer Lawrence 'isn't sexy'

Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams star in 'American Hustle'.

Amy Adams says her on-screen kiss with Jennifer Lawrence was more toxic than sexy.

The 39-year-old actress stars alongside Lawrence, as well as Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale, in the upcoming thriller American Hustle.

The kiss between the two leading ladies wasn't originally in the script, but Adams suggested it after realising how calculating the move would be.

"She killed it. It didn't feel sexy, it felt toxic. I did not kiss her back. There's no participatory element to it at all there," Adams tells Access Hollywood.

"It's sort of like a confessional and a power struggle and (our characters) are both so desperate and so angry and I said, 'Well, what if (my character) kisses her because that's the ultimate chess move'."

Lawrence wasn't so keen on the idea when it was first brought to her by director David O Russell.

But the Oscar winning actress quickly relented when the scene played out, and the kiss ended up feeling very natural for her.

"(The director) brought it up to me and was like, 'Amy thinks that you should kiss her in a scene,' and I was like, 'What? Why?' I didn't understand it. Then when we started the scene it completely made sense," Lawrence said.

"(My character) has a toxic need to be in control and to overpower a situation I did not think it made sense before David called action and then as soon as we were in the scene, it happened organically because it was just so true."

The kiss is not a seductive one, but rather a devious move to scare her adversary into submission.

"Anybody can slap her, anybody can just storm out, but I am going to horrify her and scare her and alpha her (and) cover her in lip gloss," Lawrence says.

American Hustle opens in New Zealand on January 23.

- Cover Media