Benedict Cumberbatch feels "very lucky" to have his family.

Sophie Hunter and Benedict Cumberbatch

Sophie Hunter and Benedict Cumberbatch

The 'Doctor Strange' star is thrilled to be expecting a second child with his wife Sophie Hunter as home is like a "safe harbour" to him.

He said: "It's a joyous thing. I'm very happy to have them in my life, very lucky as well. Home is always the roots and the safe harbour."

And the 40-year-old actor - who has 16-month-old Christopher with Sophie - praised his parents Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham for being the "first heroes" he ever had.

He added to People magazine: "They are the first heroes I ever had in my life and I don't mean that in a sappy way, it's the truth. They, despite whatever is ever made out about it, worked incredibly hard to be able to afford an education that in most circumstances you could only dream of and I was very aware of that.

"There were lean times as well as the feasts - I saw all the pitfalls of not being able to control your social calendar as much as your income or where you earn your income, the peripatetic nature of it all, whether it was touring or filming or whatever."

Meanwhile, Benedict previously opened up about his fans, who he described as "obsessive and deluded" stalkers.

He said: "There are people who believe that my wife is a P.R. stunt and my child is a P.R. stunt.

"I think really it's to do with the idea that the 'Internet's boyfriend' can't actually belong to anyone else but the Internet. It's impossible he belongs to anyone but me. And that's what stalking is. That's what obsessive, deluded, really scary behaviour is."