After more than three decades of a brilliant professional career, described by the jury as “one of the most talented and awarded actresses of her generation,” Naomi Watts will be awarded this Saturday, September 19, 2026, the Donostia Award 2026, as part of the 4th edition of the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
For the occasion, she has also attended as a member and lead actor in the cast of the film ‘The Perfect Wife’, the debut of Canadian director Ben Shirinian, where she confessed, during the press conference, that “it has been very challenging” to bring her character to life, a seemingly calm wife but with a turbulent and dangerous past.
“People always ask me why I choose characters who suffer so much or who are on the edge. I try to look for different things in each project, but it is true that pain, trauma and the search for identity are recurring themes in my roles. I am drawn to the psychology of vulnerability; I think it is in the cracks of a character where the true humanity and interpretive truth lie.”
Ben Shirinian, Lena Olin y Naomi Watts en el photocall de la presentación de la película La esposa perfecta en Donostia.
Naomi Watts y el edadismo en Hollywood
Watts also focused on the difficulties Hollywood posed at the start of her career. Mulholland Drive, by Lynch, propelled her to fame at 31, but she endured a decade of failed auditions: “Before Mulholland Drive I was about to give up many times. When I met David Lynch, he didn’t have me do a conventional screen test; he simply sat down to talk with me about life, about how I grew up, about my fears. It was a conversation that changed me forever. He taught me to trust my instincts and not to be afraid to leap without a safety net.”
But the road was not easy. Now, at almost 58, she recalls some lines as if it were yesterday: “When I started in this profession, they literally told me to get my act together because everything ends for women when they turn 40. There was an invisible expiration date. But here we are, years later, proving that this was a false narrative.”
“A woman’s life and experience become infinitely deeper and more interesting as you grow older, and it is essential that cinema begin to reflect that complexity without fear.” “The Emmys, last week, honored many women over 50. Those of us who are that age watch film and television, so they have to be part of the stories,” she has stated.
Naomi Watts at the 2026 San Sebastián International Film Festival.
The cinema according to Naomi Watts
In addition, the actress has spoken about her love for cinema, a tool that is more alive than ever to unite and give voice to complex topics. “In the current world, where everything seems to trend toward isolation and fragmentation, now more than ever cinema is a very powerful medium for telling stories. Going to a cinema to share emotions with strangers creates a level of empathy and human connection that cannot be replicated on a personal screen. Cinema remains our most necessary refuge,” she has expressed.
Finally, she has offered words of gratitude to the Spanish film industry for the Donostia Award she receives tonight at the Kursaal and which will be presented by director Juan Antonio Bayona, with whom she shot The Impossible: “Receiving the Donostia Award is a huge honor that fills me with humility. Spain has an indelible place in my heart thanks to my work with J.A. Bayona on The Impossible. Working with him taught me what absolute dedication in cinema means, and that this festival recognizing my career in a city as wonderful as San Sebastián makes this moment unforgettable.”
