Hasty Pudding Honors Man of the Year Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds, the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year, speaks at a press conference held at Farkas Hall on Friday night. By Casey M. Allen

Between parodies and a Pudding Pot, actor Ryan Reynolds accepted the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Man of the Year Award Friday evening to laughter and fanfare.

Reynolds, known for his roles in “The Proposal,” “Green Lantern,” and last year’s critical and box office success “Deadpool,” joked about his previous acting roles and wife Blake Lively as Hasty Pudding cast members roasted the actor.

“Where would society be today without cinematic masterpieces like 'Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle?'” Adam L. Chiavacci ’18 said, poking fun at one of Reynolds’s more lighthearted film appearances.

Chiavacci, a Hasty Pudding producer, led the jokes along with co-producer Natalie Y.C. Kim ’18.

The comedy roast was followed by a press conference, during which Reynolds said he didn’t know what to expect from the Hasty Pudding event. He said he enjoyed that he was uninformed.

“I didn’t know that much, so it was just sort of fun. I like going to something not really knowing what I’m doing, which you can tell by my resume sometimes,” he said.

Reynolds also said that although he never expected he would visit Harvard, he enjoyed his stay. Before the award ceremony, Pudding cast members and members of the female acapella group the Radcliffe Pitches gave Reynolds a campus tour.

“I’ve spent the day largely with students at Harvard, and there’s something pretty exceptional about all of these young men and women because it’s like hanging out with a bunch of people with the acumen of a worldly forty year old,” Reynolds joked.

Hasty Pudding Man of the Year, Ryan Reynolds, poses with Hasty Pudding Theatricals cast members. Reynolds was presented with the Pudding Pot Friday evening. By Zennie L. Wey

During the press conference, Reynolds also said he preferred kissing his wife over actor Andrew Garfield—at the Golden Globe Awards in January, a kiss between Reynolds and Garfield stole tabloid headlines.

“I’m going to go with my wife, on that one, for a number of reasons,” he said. “But make no mistake, Andrew Garfield is a wonderful kisser. Very generous. A real darting tongue.”

The Man of the Year award, established in 1963, is presented by the Hasty Pudding Theatricals annually to “performers who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment,” according to the Pudding website. Past recipients have included Robert De Niro, Justin Timberlake, and most recently, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 2016.

Reynolds’ visit follows that of actress Octavia Spencer, who the Hasty Pudding celebrated as their Woman of the Year on Jan. 26. After Friday’s Man of the Year festivities, Reynolds attended the Pudding’s opening night performance of “Casino Evil.”

—Staff writer Luke W. Xu can be reached at luke.xu@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @duke_of_luke_.