When we arrived in Harvard Square, Annette Bening had already been serenaded to by the Harvard Krokodiloes and honored with her Hasty Pudding parade through Harvard Yard. But it was the official roasting of the two-time Golden Globe winner that drew us to Farkas Hall on a busy Tuesday night.
It was your typical February evening with clouds, cold temps and questionable parking options. Fortunately my friend, Jane Sutton, found the perfect spot and we filed into the theater along with the other reporters. The lobby was filled with the energy emitted by students, staff and journalists. We climbed the three flights of stairs to the press room, where we made our way past cameras and tripods. A modest stream of conversation filled the room as we awaited Bening’s arrival.
From the press room’s giant screen we watched as Hasty Pudding’s 74th Woman of the Year acted out various roles from her numerous films, including donning a feather wig to become a bird based on her film “The Seagull.”
Hasty 2024 WOY Annette Bening dances with Diana Nyad swimmers. Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer
Bening, who has been nominated for an Oscar for her role in “Nyad,” played along with the night’s roast, offering up her own roast-themed comments when awarded the Pudding Pot: “Of all the honors I’ve received, this has meant the least,” she said. “I am not thrilled, I am not delighted, and I’m not even grateful.”
Jane Sutton and Nina Livingstone at the press conference. Courtesy photo
Bening took on a different tone at the press conference where the questions were brief. It was Bening’s voice that captured my attention … much deeper than I remembered.
Bening will be bringing home the second Pudding Pot her household has seen. Her husband, Warren Beatty, was named Hasty Pudding’s Man of the Year in 1975.
