Tom Holland sings Lionel Messi's praises in sweet anecdote

Tom Holland has great respect for Lionel Messi, who has been a childhood hero for the actor, for a special reason now that he has personally met with him.

The 30-year-old actor admitted that Messi is actually one of the only few people he has felt "star-struck" by.

Sharing the story of how he met his hero, the Spider-Man star said, “We went to go and visit him in Miami to watch him play. He was very kind enough to do some Spider-Man promotional stuff with us.”

Holland continued, “I’ve met him before. The time that I met him in Paris was at the Ballon d’Or, and it truly was one of the most unique experiences of my life. We’re in this room. There were football players everywhere, people that I really admire.”

Despite his stardom, Holland noted “when he walked in the room, it was like the energy in the room had changed. He walked past, he had his whole family with him, he shook my hand. I don’t usually get star-struck around people that do what I do, but athletes - for me, there’s something about performing on that stage week in and week out, dealing with that pressure.”

Comparing his career to athletes,' he added, “I’m under pressure at the minute because my movies come out, but once they’re out, they’re out. I can take some time off. Athletes have to maintain that level of pressure for so long. I’ve always really admired him and I’m super grateful that he showed up to do that for us. It’s been the most viral piece of content that we’ve done for the film.”