Jennifer Lawrence is being treated like a 'slave' for 'The Hunger Games' franchise, so says her American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook director, David O'Russell. O. Russell believes the 23-year-old actress - who plays Rosalyn Rosenfeld in his movie - is on the verge of burning out and has compared her stressful workload to Golden Globe-winning film '12 Years A Slave'.

He said: 'Talk about 12 years of slavery, that's what the franchise ['The Hunger Games'] is.

'I think they should give her breathing room over there because they're printing money, but she's a very alive person.'

The filmmaker - who also worked with Jennifer on 'Silver Linings Playbook' - went on to claim her work on the movie series is like a 'hamster wheel' and she is only able to do other projects in her holidays time.

He added to Yahoo!: 'Being in the 'Hunger Games', they just keep her on a hamster wheel and then she spends her vacation on 'American Hustle'.

The blonde beauty is currently shooting the third and fourth movies in the franchise, but she required hospital treatment last November due to exhaustion.

Meanwhile, Jennifer was honoured with a Golden Globe award on Sunday (12.01.14) for her portrayal in 'American Hustle', and admits winning the award was 'really overwhelming' because she doesn't prepare herself for successes.

She has said: 'It's kind of unbelievable ... really, genuinely unbelievable. I can't really process it. It's such a huge honour.'