Amy Adams feared she'd given Bradley Cooper a black eye filming 'American Hustle'.

The 39-year-old actress says she got so carried away shooting a violent scene in the 1970s-set crime caper that she hit her hunky co-star a little too hard.

She explained: ''[Director] David [O. Russell] pushes his actors into a space where you don't really know what's going to happen. But in one scene I wish I hadn't let myself get caught up in that atmosphere.

''There's a scene where I was supposed to hit Bradley. I wasn't hitting him hard enough and David kept yelling, 'Hit him. Hit him.' And Bradley kept yelling, 'C'mon, hit me, hit me!' So I finally hit him, but I whacked him so hard that his face began to swell and I was crying because I thought I'd given him a black eye.''

Despite the chaotic on-set moment, Amy has praised her 39-year-old co-star for being so encouraging to the cast and crew.

She told LOOK magazine: ''He will do anything. Bradley's the cheerleader on set. He's like, 'Let's do this, come on, everybody!' He's my hero in this film.''