'Winter's Bone' Actress Jennifer Lawrence on Oscar Nod: I Can't Get the Words Out

Jennifer Lawrence is having trouble finding the right words to express the exciting news she received this morning. The 20-year-old star can now call herself an Oscar nominee, nabbing a nod for Best Actress for her role in Winter's Bone, the underdog in the Best Picture category.

“I’ve been trying all morning,” Jennifer told Entertainment Weekly. “I still can’t really get the words out, I just… I can’t.. Ooph… As you can see. Laughs I’m so grateful and happy and thrilled and… tired.”

Jennifer was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as a young girl who treks through the Ozark Mountains as she hunts down her drug-dealing father and ties to hold her family together.

The bright young star said she is astonished by the recognition her film has received.

“When you make a tiny movie like that on a shoestring budget in the freezing cold — this has surpassed any expectation I could’ve had," she explained. And that’s why it just feels so good. We all made it without this in mind. We all made it because we loved and believed in the movie. And to see this happen to it and to us, there’s no feeling like it.”

Jennifer shared she jumped at the chance to work with director Debra Granik.

“Once I started working with Debra and got to see what a genius she was, even before we started shooting, I thought this was going to be something so special,” she said. “But special to me. I could never have dreamed that the world would react this way.”

Granik also can't contain her excitement.

"We may be one of the lower budget films that’s ever been able to participate in something national like this,” the director told EW. “It emboldens you to keep trying, to look for more stories. It gets you all revved up. You want to deliver again. Audiences become your muse. And you want to come back to them with something worth their time. As an underdog, it gives you fuel to want to do good work and bring it back.”

John Hawkes was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Teardrop — a scary and yet sympathetic meth addict.