Names

Anne Hathaway riding high at Harvard

Hasty Pudding members escorted Anne Hathaway (center and inset) to a roast in her honor as Woman of the Year. (Photos By John Tlumacki/Globe Staff)

By Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein

January 29, 2010

Text size – +

A snowy motorcade through Harvard Square. A bawdy drag queen show. A brass pot to put on the mantel. It all added up to one memorable afternoon for actress Anne Hathaway as she received the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 60th Woman of the Year. In time-honored Pudding tradition, Hathaway, 27, was brought onstage at Harvard’s New College theater for a 30-minute roast hosted by Pudding pooh-bahs Clifford Murray and Derek Mueller. Playing merrily along, Hathaway was lauded and teased by an all-male cast portraying Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, Meryl Streep (decked out in silvery “Prada’’ couture), and Puff Daddy the Magic Dragon, whom Hathaway pretended to slay. In homage to her roles in such films as “The Princess Diaries’’ and “Brokeback Mountain,’’ there were plenty of groan-worthy jokes about gay cowboys, Hathaway appearing topless onscreen, and her being “the second most famous Anne to keep a diary.’’ But Hathaway gave as good as she got, showing off her skills at arm-wrestling, sword-wielding, singing, and even defending some of her weaker screen credits (“Excuse me,’’ she barked at one point, “I won a Teen Choice Award!’’). Hathaway capped the roast with an acceptance speech composed in rhymed couplets (sample: “I feel warm and gooey inside / My rump is swollen with pride’’). Her main theme? She expects some serious help when her kids grow up and apply to Harvard. Hathaway sat through a preview of the forthcoming Pudding Theatricals show “Commie Dearest,’’ a ribald satire on the 1950s, and held a brief press conference afterward, saying she felt “lovingly skewered’’ by the whole experience. She also said a network of Harvard-alum friends, one being director Edward Zwick, had helped prepare her to become what she smilingly called “roast pudding.’’ Confessed Hathaway, “I’d always hoped to be a Woman of the Year someday,’’ an honor for which she felt “surprisingly touched.’’ That pudding pot? She just might fill it with potpourri, Hathaway said, or maybe fortune cookies. As for last night, she said, she’d be drinking out of her new trophy - “whatever they’re pouring.’’

‘Company Men’ screening

Director John Wells screened his new film, “The Company Men,’’ at the Coolidge Corner Theatre last night. The downsizing drama starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, and Kevin Costner was shot in Boston last year. Some of the cast and crew saw it the night before at Kendall Square Cinema, after which Wells and a few others, including actor Tom Kemp, headed to Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square. . . . Word is Matt Damon will receive the annual American Cinematheque Award March 27 in Los Angeles. Previous winners of the award include Samuel L. Jackson, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Al Pacino, Steve Martin, Nicole Kidman, and Denzel Washington.

‘Hills’ costar on the town
“The Hills’’ costar Stacie Hall (second from left) had fun on her first visit to Boston. The bartender on the popular MTV reality show hosted a party at the Estate, and when she wasn’t doing shots and dancing madly, Hall was dishing. The California native, who emptied the mini bar in her room at the W Hotel before the Boston bash, said she made out with “Hills’’ hunk Justin Bobby at this year’s MTV Movie Awards, and revealed that she’s been texting with “Jersey Shore’’ cast member Pauly D. (She said he has a “huge crush’’ on her.) Hall also dissed Heidi Montag’s recent plastic surgery, but admitted she’s about to get a nose job and a breast lift. (Hall got implants when she was 18, but doesn’t like the look anymore.)

Gisele’s home birth

Despite what you may have read, Gisele Bundchen did not give birth at Brigham and Women’s Hospital - or Mass. General, Beth Israel, or Boston Medical Center, for that matter. The supermodel spouse of Pats QB Tom Brady had their baby at the couple’s Beacon Street townhouse. But that’s not all. In an interview with a popular Brazilian TV show, Bundchen has confirmed something we’d heard: She delivered little Benjamin in the bathtub. (The interview with “Fantastico,’’ the Brazilian equivalent of “60 Minutes,’’ airs this weekend.) Home births are hardly the norm in Brazil, which has one of the highest rates of caesarean sections in the world. So what’s with Bundchen? We’re told Gi was profoundly influenced by director Abby Epstein’s 2008 documentary, “The Business of Being Born,’’ which makes a compelling argument for natural childbirth. The movie, executive produced by Ricki Lake, looks at the history of obstetrics, midwives, and how modern medical practices may do pregnant women more harm than good. One of the people quoted in the film is Ana Paula Markel, a friend of Bundchen’s who works as a doula, or childbirth assistant, in LA. “It’s so great to hear that [Gisele] had a positive home birth experience,’’ Lake told us yesterday. “Not only because it was at home and in water, but because it says a lot to girls who follow her.’’ They might also be interested to know what else we heard, that Gisele may have used self-hypnosis relaxation and breathing techniques to aid her delivery. Whatever she did, it worked. Word is, the supermodel was in labor for only about eight hours before the bundle of joy arrived. Other celebs who’ve had their babies at home include actress Alyson Hannigan, model Cindy Crawford, singer Erykah Badu, actress Maria Bello, and Bundchen’s BFF Michelle Alves, a Brazilian model and the wife of Madonna’s manager Guy Oseary.

Daniels at Emerson

The Paramount Center, the new performance, academic, and residential space built by Emerson College that includes the Paramount Theatre, won’t be open to the public until March, but there are signs of life already inside the landmark building on Washington Street. We’re told students are now taking classes in the studios, and the practice rooms and soundstage are operational. Monday, the center will host its first celebrity when director Lee Daniels (inset) screens “Precious,’’ his film based on the novel “Push’’ by Sapphire. (Daniels will be on campus again Tuesday to talk to students.) The performance development center includes state-of-the-art facilities while also retaining the vintage charm of the old theater.

Joel, John at Fenway?

A year after playing at Gillette Stadium, Billy Joel and Elton John may be headed to Fenway. We’re told the twosome are talking about playing a couple of shows sometime in July. The folks at Fenway wanted Joel and John to play at the ballpark last year, but they performed instead at Gillette.

Joseph P. Kahn of the Globe staff contributed. Read the Names blog at www.boston.com/namesblog. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.