ROMANCING THE STONE star Kathleen Turner has unveiled the secret behind her trademark voice - she deepened it by sticking erasers between her teeth.

The 51-year-old actress' gravelly tones have intrigued fans for a number of years - and she achieved her distinctive voice through lots of practice with erasers.

She says, "I don't actually do it anymore, but the idea behind it was that everything is a muscle in here and the more you can stretch it the more resonance you'll get.

"So you put little ends of pencils at the back of your back teeth and it forces a little more space. You get used to opening the oral cavity more and you get resonance."

And Turner admits her voice has helped with more than just acting roles.

She explains, "It works great for restaurants, because you call up and you say, 'I need a reservation for two. This is Kathleen Turner.' They go, 'Yes, it is!'"

15/07/2005 09:09