Jennifer Lawrence for The Silver Linings Playbook

Jennifer Lawrence is to star alongside Mark Wahlberg in 'The Silver Linings Playbook'.

Jennifer Lawrence will star in 'The Silver Linings Playbook'.

The 21-year-old actress has signed on as the female lead in the movie, which is based on a novel by Matthew Quick and will also star Mark Wahlberg

The film tells the story of a clinically depressed man called Pat who is released from a mental hospital after a number of years, and formulates a story about "silver linings" and how his estranged wife Nikki will come back to him.

Jennifer is set to play Tiffany, the very attractive widowed wife of his best friend Ronnie and she begins to secretly pursue and mentor him as the two work to put their lives back together.

'The Hunger Games' star has beaten a host of actresses including Elizabeth Banks, Kirsten Dunst, Blake Lively, Rooney Mara, Rachel McAdams, Andrea Riseborough and Olivia Wilde to win the highly-coveted role.

David O. Russell - who worked with Mark on 2010 movie 'The Fighter' - will direct the film.