Noomi Rapace felt like the 'Sherlock Holmes' sequel was an "amazing opportunity" she couldn't pass up.

The Swedish actress plays the role of gypsy Sim in the Guy Ritchie-directed follow-up to the 2009 film, and she admits she was honoured to be "invited" to take part in the film as it contained people - including Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law - who she had always watched and admired.

She said: "It started when I met the people at Warner Bros. and it was a really good meeting and then I met Robert and Susan and then I met Guy in London and it started from a very honest discussion about movies and dreams, and what kind of movies we wanted to make.

"It felt like I was invited into an amazing opportunity to work with people that I've been admiring and people I've been watching for years. It felt like it was much more about the people, and to get the opportunity to play a gypsy."

However, she jokes her first meeting with Robert - who plays the titular detective - was not even about the film.

She added to BANG Showbiz: "I met Robert and Susan, his wife, in Los Angeles. It was a very quick, intense, fun meeting and we didn't really talk about 'Sherlock'. But I came out from that meeting and I was smiling, thinking, 'I really want to work with those people.' "