Annette Bening was honored as the 2024 Woman of the Year in Cambridge on Tuesday.
The Oscar-nominated actress sat between Hasty Pudding Theatrical members Nikita Nair and Joshua Hillers in a gray convertible during the afternoon parade through Harvard Yard. Other Hasty Pudding cast members, dressed in colorful costumes, danced around the convertible, forming a semi-protective bubble around Bening.
The car parked just outside of Harvard Yard, where she gathered with cast members and others to take photos. As she was escorted away to prepare for the evening’s festivities, the Blue Man Group and Chelsea Vuong, the 2023 Miss Massachusetts and a 2021 Harvard University graduate, stayed behind to take photos with supporters and dance.
A celebratory roast of Bening took place following the parade on Tuesday night, where she was presented with the golden pudding pot at Farkas Hall, the home of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals since 1888. Bening also attended a press conference after the roast, as well as a performance of Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 175th production, “Heist Heist Baby.”
The Woman of the Year award is the latest honor bestowed upon Bening, a two-time Golden Globe winner and five-time Oscar nominee known for her roles in “Nyad,” “The Grifters,” and “American Beauty.”
Hasty Pudding is the oldest theatrical group in the United States and one of the oldest in the world. Since 1951, it has annually presented a Woman of the Year award to “performers who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment,” according to a press release. Past recipients have included Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Scarlett Johansson, and most recently Boston’s own Jennifer Coolidge.
