Benedict Cumberbatch once ignored Tom Holland because he thought he was a fan.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch

The 'Doctor Strange' star has confessed to blanking the 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' actor after mistaking him for one of his loyal supporters.

Benedict revealed to People Now: "I was filming 'Sherlock' on a bridge and I was running and I heard this guy going, 'Benedict, Benedict!'

"And I thought, 'Oh it's a fan, I'm just going to keep walking back to my start mark.' And he was like, 'Benedict, it's Tom!' And I was like, 'Tom?' And it was him, coming home in an Uber from the 'Captain America: Civil War' premiere."

Meanwhile, the 40-year-old actor - who has Christopher, two, and three-month-old Hal with his wife Sophie Hunter - previously dubbed his fans' support and devotion "overwhelming and utterly humbling".

He said: "I came out and saw this huge line of people and said, 'Is that for some event?' And they said, 'No, it's for what you're doing tomorrow'. I was like, 'How long have they been there? What? All day? In this heat? Have they got water?' And they said, 'Yeah some of them have, some of them haven't?' 'Are they going to be on the street tonight? Can I go and talk to them?'

"There were furtive looks between the security [and they said] 'We can make that happen if you really want to.' And I said 'Hell I do.' I want to meet the people who make this possible because it's all about them and their enthusiasm and their devotion, it's overwhelming and utterly humbling, whether they've come from miles [away] or put all that effort into cosplay, it's really inspiring and humbling and reminds you what it's all about."