Sigourney Weaver was told she "had no talent" when she was studying acting at Yale University

She told Deadline.com: "I was initially told that I had no talent when I studied drama at Yale, which I'm grateful for, because it meant I've charged into all these different areas."

Sigourney is now set to receive the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement - making her only the third American actress to pick up the award after Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis - and she feels like it has validated her varied career choices.

She added: "I want to say how grateful I am to the festival for this wonderful award because for me it represents an embrace of actors who aren't willing to be put in a box. It's a recognition of being able to adventure all over the place in the odd way I have done in my career ...

"The other reason I'm so grateful for this award is because of what it says about actors, who in many ways are the engines of these stories. The recognition of what actors can bring to the table has changed over the years.

"Over the course of my career, it has been wonderful to see the influx of women into so many departments, which has brought a lot of oxygen into the business. And certainly, actors are listened to more today; we're not only considered as commodities, and I think that's very exciting."

Sigourney will accept the prize during the opening night of the film festival in Italy on Wednesday (28.08.24).