Penelope Cruz 'discovers musical muscles'

Penelope Cruz has revealed that she had to use muscles she hadn't used since she was a teenager for her new film Nine.

The actress has said that she had to put weeks of training to film a particular scene where she had to slide down a rope.

The 35-year-old told the Daily Mail: "They mapped it out and showed me how it was done. I said I would never be able to do it but I worked and worked and regained the memory of muscles in my legs I hadn't used since I was a teenager studying ballet."

Cruz, who rehearsed the rope scene for three months, was left with calluses on her hands and bleeding fingers from repeatingly sliding down the rope.

She said: "I was stretching, running and going to the gym to get my arms strong to support me on the ropes. But with my hands, after a while you don't feel the pain. I had the wounds dressed and carried on."

Nine is to be released in the UK on December 18 and in the US on December 25.