David O. Russell is a director who is very loyal to his cast. If the cast consists of A-listers Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams, it's entirely understandable.

Russell formed the bond with this core group when he directed them on his most recent (and successful) films. He worked with Christian Bale and Amy Adams in 2010's "The Fighter" which also starred Mark Wahlberg. This film brought Best Supporting Actor award honors to Christian Bale.

Last year's "Silver Linings Playbook" is also a sports related drama and starred Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. The film was a big success and garnered the Best Actress Award for Jennifer Lawrence. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the "Hunger Games" lead star stated:  "He's really my favorite director since I started watching movies."

For  "American Hustle" Russell gathers his four core actors and actually collaborates with them in writing their roles. In an interview with Indiewire, Russell shares some of the finer points of making the film. Can this grand gathering of a brilliant director and his A-list "collaborators" bring an Oscar?

"IW: You seem to be interested in characters who reinvent themselves. That's certainly been a theme in your most recent films ("American Hustle," "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The Fighter"). Do you relate to that on a personal level?

I'd say I rediscovered my passion for storytelling. All of my films up to "The Fighter" and all of my living up to that point was preparation for those three films -- which is to say that because of what happened in my life and the adjustment I had in my own life where I stopped making movies for a few years and figuring out who I was again. No film really felt compelling to me that I wanted to make. That's not a nice feeling. Every film felt like 'well, I could make this.' That's the worst feeling in the world. Starting with "The Fighter," all of the sudden my eyes opened and I saw it was right in front of my eyes all the time, these characters and these worlds. To be humble enough and attentive enough to the details of these worlds to find what is, I think, sublime about them and wonderful and passionate, suddenly, I realized what I set out to do with these extraordinary collaborators."

"IW: You have now worked with a core group of actors on your last few films (including Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale and Amy Adams). Do you consider them collaborators? And do you hope to continue the collaboration in future projects?

They're great collaborators. I write the roles while I'm in deep conversations with them at their homes or on the phone. It inspires me to write for them and to want to deliver a role that's worthy of them and to let them use every range of their behaviors in new ways that will surprise them and audiences. That's exciting to me. That makes it new for everybody. You can't go on auto-pilot because you have to pay attention because it's a new emotional reality. They are collaborators at that level and yes, of course, I do hope to keep working with them. It's a privilege to try to create roles for them."