Francis Lawrence immediately knew Jennifer Lawrence was his Red Sparrow leading lady

Director Francis Lawrence immediately knew Jennifer Lawrence was the one to play Russian spy Dominika in their new movie Red Sparrow.

The filmmaker had worked with Jennifer on the final three of the four Hunger Games movies, and he was finishing up the final part, Mockingjay - Part 2, when he started reading James Matthew's 2013 novel Red Sparrow ahead of a screen adaptation.

While he was reading it, he knew Jennifer would be right for the part of Russian spy Dominika, and pitched it to her right away.

"When I read the book, I thought of Jen," he told WENN/Cover Media at the film's London premiere. "I was finishing Mockingjay 2 when I read the book and I thought about her instantly and called her up when I finished and pitched it to her.

"She said, 'Yeah, I mean, not looking at a script, it sounds like a fun idea to do' so we thought of her, had her in mind as we worked on the screenplay."

Francis, who also directed I Am Legend, worked with screenwriter Justin Haythe on the script and once the actress was officially onboard the project, she had some input.

"Especially dealing with some of the content of the movie, she and I worked really closely together to make sure that worked well within the story and the themes and the character," Francis said, referencing the movie's nudity and violent content.

In the film, Dominika, who is trained to seduce her target, is tasked with extracting information from CIA agent Nate Nash, played by Joel Edgerton.

It has received mixed reviews so far, but Francis hasn't been paying attention to the critical response, mentioning that he rarely reads reviews anyway.

"Occasionally I do. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't," he continued.

Red Sparrow, which also stars Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling and Matthias Schoenarts, hits cinemas from 1 March (18).