AceShowbiz - Ving Rhames was once held at gunpoint by police in his own home after a neighbour reported a "large black man" had broken in.

In an interview with The Clay Cane Show on SiriusXM on Friday, July 27, the Mission: Impossible star revealed he was relaxing at home in Santa Monica, California in 2016, when he heard a noise in his backyard, and opened the door to a police officer holding a gun to his face.

"I'm in the house... I hear a noise in my backyard, but I'm thinking, you know, the puppies are just running around or what have you," the 59-year-old explained. "And then, I get a knock on the front door. So, as a matter of fact, I was watching (TV channel) ESPN, so I get up, and I'm just in my basketball shorts, literally. And so, I get up, I open the door, there's a red dot pointed at my face from a nine millimeter."

Rhames said police asked him to open his front screen door and to step outside with his hands in the air. He was then greeted by two other officers, the captain of police and a police dog.

However, it was the captain who recognised him - not because of his Hollywood fame, but because their children had played sports at school together.

"The captain of police... he recognised me because my son played against his (kids') school," he recalled. "They recognise me, and the guy, says it was a mistake, they apologise, what have you. But my problem was - and then, I said, 'Why are you doing this?' He said to me, 'A woman called,' this is literally what the police officer said, 'A woman called 9-1-1, said a large black man was breaking into the house.' And so they came."

Recalling the terrifying incident, Rhames revealed he feared for his life - and that of his son's - and was thankful that he was recognised.

The Santa Monica Police Department responded to Rhames' claims in a statement to Entertainment Tonight, and said they had since introduced a city-wide community program called Meet Your Neighbors to "address situations such as these".