London: Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed that he nearly turned down the iconic character of detective Sherlock Holmes in the TV series of the same name.

Benedict  Cumberbatch

The 37-year-old actor said he had to have a pause for thought before agreeing to play the role, reported a website. "My reservation was 'Well, this is a very iconic character, there will be a lot of attention on it.

This was before I had had any significant success [but] I knew there would still be a lot of focus on it. "And while I had done work, it wasn't stepping into the populist limelight like playing a character like Holmes.

So I did have a pause for thought," he said. In the mystery series, Cumberbatch shares the screen space with 'The Hobbit: Desolation Of Smaug' co-star Martin Freeman, who plays Dr John Watson.