Hasty’s woman of the year Claire Danes parades through Cambridge in style

When receiving the celebrated Pudding Pot from Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals, it helps to be a good sport. And Claire Danes, the Pudding’s 2012 Woman of the Year, certainly was today. The actress was paraded through the streets of Cambridge this afternoon flanked by members of the smart-aleck student group known for its bawdy humor and cheeky getups.

The actress, who just won the Golden Globe for her role on “Homeland,” was driven to the roast in the backseat of a Bentley convertible. (Her husband, actor Hugh Dancy, was in the front seat.) As the cross-dressing pranksters paraded down Mass. Ave., one of the Hastys hollered at the Hollywood starlet, “I’d give you driving tips, but I’m a woman and don’t know how to drive.”

Hosts James Fitzpatrick and Ryan Halprin noted that Danes won her first Golden Globe 17 years ago for the TV show, “My So-Called Life,” and then embarked on a “so-called film career.” (Of her underwhelming 2007 movie, “Stardust,” Halprin said that’s also the name of a street drug you need to take to remain awake during the film.)

The Hastys also poked fun at Danes for her decision to drop out of Harvard’s hated rival Yale after two years. “That’s a normal amount of time to spend at a community college,” cracked Fitzpatrick. For her part, Danes seemed delighted by the day, calling the experience “epic,” “wackadoodle,” and “utterly trippy.” (Danes actually fell down on her way to her seat in the theater, and popped a button on her dress during the show, but was unfazed.)

She said an aunt who lives in Dorchester told her receiving the Pudding Pot would be an honor above all others, and Danes seemed to agree. “I feel proud,” she said. “And debased.”

Speaking to reporters afterward, Danes said she plans to go to the Super Bowl despite knowing nothing about football. “I’ll go for the halftime show,” she said. “I’ll enjoy the dancing and the cheerleaders and those little taut bums.”

Perhaps to fortify herself for today’s skewering, Danes and her dashing husband had a leisurely lunch at UpStairs on the Square. The couple, who are traveling with their dog Weegee, had a vegetarian lunch of butter lettuce, ruby red grapefruit and avocado, half of a cider-glazed acorn squash, warm farro, tuscan kale and quince, and vanilla white chocolate cake and passionfruit caramel and crème legere.

Danes, who is perhaps best known for her roles in movies “Romeo + Juliet” and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” is in good company. Recent winners of the Woman of the Year award include Julianne Moore, Anne Hathaway, Renée Zellweger, Charlize Theron, and Scarlett Johansson. Danes admitted that to prepare for today’s event she had watched past ceremonies on YouTube. “I did my homework,” she said. MARK SHANAHAN