The father of Hunger Games actor Sam Claflin has praised his son for all his hard work after he was named one of IMDb's breakout stars of 2016.

The Snow White and the Huntsman actor who grew up in Norwich placed at number eight on the list after consistently ranking highly on the IMDb weekly STARmeter chart throughout the year.

Sam is one of four brothers and his dad, Mark Claflin, said the whole family are proud of his achievements.

'We've seen how hard he's worked to get to where he is now and how hard he continues to work,' he said. 'Many associate actors are all coming from privileged backgrounds but Sam went to Costessey High School. He did a paper round from the age of 14 until 16 and then worked part time in Sainsburys and GAP while at college.

'He has no relatives in the business, so his success is down to himself.'

Sam's most notable film work includes playing trident-wielding Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games adaptations, starring alongside Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and tackling the role of Will Traynor, a paralysed young man, in the heart-wrenching romantic drama, Me Before You.

Mr Claflin added: 'The icing on the cake for us, we're just pleased that he's doing something that he enjoys.'

Also featured in IMDb's 2016 list of breakout stars was The Walking Dead's Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Star Wars: The Force Awakens actor Adam Driver and Westworld's Evan Rachel Wood.