Susan Sarandon to receive the 2026 International Goya Award

With a filmography as extensive as it is powerful, Susan Sarandon—one of the most influential figures in contemporary Hollywood—embodies a rare combination of artistic excellence, professional success, glamour, and social and political commitment. The star of landmark titles such as Thelma & Louise, The Client, The Witches of Eastwick, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Atlantic City, The Hunger, and Dead Man Walking—for which she won the Academy Award—will receive the 2026 International Goya Award in Barcelona on 28 February, during a special gala celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Goya Awards.

Created to honour individuals whose careers have contributed to cinema as an art form that connects cultures and audiences worldwide, the International Goya Award is presented to Sarandon in recognition of her status as “one of the most outstanding actresses in Hollywood cinema, with a filmography that includes an extraordinary number of undisputed masterpieces, iconic films that have become part of popular culture, and cult classics cherished by cinephiles around the world. For decades, she has been one of the most prominent faces of Hollywood at its most admired.” The Academy’s Board of Directors also highlighted the actress and producer’s courageous social and political engagement.

Long regarded as a character actress, Sarandon has consistently sought out roles that reflect this approach since the beginning of her career in the 1970s, with a clear determination to avoid repetition and embrace variety. Her long list of screen partners—including Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Jack Lemmon, Richard Gere, Burt Lancaster, Kevin Costner, Ed Harris, Tommy Lee Jones, Tim Robbins, David Bowie, Sean Penn, Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julia Roberts and Geena Davis—stands as further testament to her talent and commitment to both her craft and the society in which she lives.

Sarandon has received nine Golden Globe nominations and five Academy Award nominations—for Atlantic City, Thelma & Louise, Lorenzo’s Oil and The Client—finally winning the Oscar for Dead Man Walking, in which she portrays a nun accompanying a death-row inmate. Bull Durham, Stepmom, Little Women and the television series Feud, in which she transformed into Bette Davis, also form part of the résumé of this New York–born artist, celebrated for her versatility, her outspoken advocacy, her appetite for risk and her involvement in experimental cinema. Among her most iconic performances remains, Louise, in the feminist classic Thelma & Louise.

A steadfast defender of human rights, Sarandon—who grew up in a large Catholic family as the eldest of nine siblings—has long expressed her affection for Spain, a country she will revisit to receive the fifth International Goya Award presented by the Spanish Film Academy. Previous recipients of the honour include Cate Blanchett, Juliette Binoche, Sigourney Weaver and Richard Gere.