Actress Emily Watson gestures after receiving the Donostia Award for her career during the 63rd San Sebastian Film Festival, in San Sebastian, Spain.

British actress Emily Watson, who starred in “Angela’s Ashes” and “The Book Thief,” was honored with a lifetime achievement award on Friday at the San Sebastian film festival in Spain.

“I have had the enormous privilege to play characters whose lives are much more interesting than mine,” she said as she collected the award from festival director Jose Luis Rebordinos in the northern seaside resort of San Sebastian.

The Donostia award — named after the Basque word for San Sebastian — has been given out each year at the festival since 1986 when it went to Gregory Peck.

Other past recipients include Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Richard Gere and Woody Allen.

“When I read the long list of people who have received it before me I felt incredibly honored,” Watson told reporters just before the award ceremony.

Watson, 48, burst onto the film scene with Lars von Trier’s 1996 film “Breaking the Waves” for which she received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of a woman obsessively in love with her husband.

“I am not sure I knew what acting was before doing that film,” she said.

Asked about what is was like to work with the Danish director, who is known for pushing his actresses hard, Watson said: “He has a reputation for being difficult but I had an amazing experience.”

Critics have praised Watson’s performance in her latest movie, Icelandic director Baltasar Karmakur’s “Everest,” based on a 1996 disaster in which eight people died in a blizzard on the world’s highest mountain.

Watson, who plays a logistics coordinator in the drama, said she did not know where her career would take her next.

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