Johnny Depp to receive Donostia

Controversial star will be honoured at San Sebastian

by Amber Wilkinson

Johnny Depp to receive Donostia Award in San Sebastian
Johnny Depp to receive Donostia Award in San Sebastian Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival

Pirates Of The Caribbean star Johnny Depp has been announced as a recipient of this year's Donostia Awards for lifetime achievement at San Sebastian Film Festival.

The three-time Oscar nominee Depp, who plays Jack Sparrow in the popular Disney franchise, has more than 90 acting credits to his name, with films ranging from Edward Scissorhands and What's Eating Gilbert Grape in his younger years through to Minimata and Waiting For The Barbarians most recently.

The festival lauded him as “one of contemporary cinema’s most talented and versatile actors”, although the star has not been without controversy in recent years, not least his failed libel suit against The Sun newspaper, which saw the court uphold the paper's description of him as a “wife beater” in relation to actress Amber Heard. That ruling saw him axed from the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

Depp - who has also directed short films and 1997 The Brave - will receive the award at the festival on September 22.

Previous recipients of the award include Viggo Mortensen, Judi Dench and Meryl Streep.

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