HARVEY KEITEL - TOUGH GUY KEITEL'S CRYING THERAPY

Movie star HARVEY KEITEL is tough on anyone who attempts to silence his young son ROMAN when he starts to cry, because he recognises his own speaking problems come from being hushed as a child.

The MEAN STREETS star insists his son, who was born last summer (04), is already teaching him so much about his own problems and insecurities - and he's determined to use them to make sure his kid doesn't have the troubles he endured as a child.

He explains, "I will not let anyone tell my son not to cry. I don't want anyone to interfere with his expressing what he's feeling.

"As a kid I was told to hush and, as a result, it's taken me a lifetime to be able to speak.

"I had to hide it (tears) - you hammer it down until you can't think anymore, you can't speak anymore, and your inner world is in retreat.

"You can't function, and you stutter, which I did as a boy. You will stutter not only vocally, but inwardly. You will hesitate, you will fumble, you will futz."