British actor Naomi Watts is to receive a special honour on Saturday at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, where she declared an unwavering appetite for challenging roles that make audiences think differently.

The festival will present Watts with its top prize, the Donostia Award, previously handed to actors such as Gregory Peck, Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver and Penelope Cruz. “It feels like such an incredible honour to get this award at this point in my life,” the 57-year-old told a news conference at the festival in the northern Spanish coastal city.

“I’ve been working hard for the last nearly four decades and had the fantastic opportunity to work with cinema greats,” she added. “I continue to try and do interesting things with my work, to shift thinking, alter narratives and help the human psyche be understood better.”

Watts rose to stardom with her role in David Lynch’s 2001 psychological thriller “Mulholland Drive” and received two Oscar nominations for “21 Grams” and “The Impossible”.

An advocate for women ageing naturally, she said attitudes in the film industry had changed in recent years.

“I was told at the beginning that I better get my skates on because it all finishes at the age of 40 and here we are today. I’m in my late 50s now. I do think things have changed.”

Films in competition at the Spanish festival include a new adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel “Les Misérables” by French filmmaker Fred Cavaye and “Ashes” by Mexican director Diego Luna.