Jennifer Lawrence 'Raised By Rats'

The 'Hunger Games' star has confessed her apartment in New York was riddled with vermin when she left home aged 14 to pursue a career as an actress.

She explained: "I was raised by rats and that'll toughen you up. And I got to the point where I was literally just sharing food with rats. I didn't really have any money."

The 25-year-old beauty admitted that while she was disgusted by the creatures at first, she was so desperate to break into the industry that she learned to live with them.

According to The Sun newspaper, she said: "So if a rat had eaten my loaf of bread before, when I first got there, I'd be like, 'Ew', and throw the whole loaf of bread away. But eventually, I started just cutting around the hole that the rat had ate."

And the 'Joy' actress revealed that it wasn't until her parents saw that she was willing to live in squalor in order to accomplish her dream that they really began to believe in her.

She added: "So that's when my parents were like, yeah, I think she really, really wants to do this."