Actor Rose Byrne named Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year

Fresh off her Golden Globe Award win and Oscar nomination for the leading role in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Byrne will be honored Feb. 13 with a parade through the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Rose Byrne poses in the press room with the award for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture – musical or comedy for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” during the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. AP

By Associated Press

January 29, 2026 | 8:20 AM

1 minute to read

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Rose Byrne, fresh off her Golden Globe Award win and Oscar nomination for the leading role in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” was named as the 2026 Woman of the Year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals on Wednesday.

Byrne, who also has starred in “Bridesmaids,” “Neighbors,” “Insidious,” and “Damages,” will be honored Feb. 13 with a parade through the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts. After that, she will receive her pudding pot award at a celebratory roast. She will then attend a performance of Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 177th production “Salooney Tunes.”

In her review of “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” The Associated Press’ Jocelyn Noveck wrote that the film gave Byrne “a chance to display versatility and grit in surely the toughest dramatic role of her career.”

Actor Michael Keaton is the 2026 Man of the Year. He will receive his pudding pot Feb. 6.

“We are thrilled to honor Rose Byrne as our Woman of the Year,” Hasty Pudding Theatricals President Daisy Nussbaum said in a statement. “Hot off a Golden Globe win and an Oscar nomination, it’s only right that she receives the most prestigious award of all: a pudding pot.”

The Pudding is the oldest theatrical organization in the nation and one of the oldest in the world. Since 1951, it has bestowed the award annually on women including actors Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Scarlett Johansson and Annette Bening. Last year, the winner was “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo.

Byrne, who is Australian, also acted in “Juliet, Naked,” “Get Him to the Greek,” and “28 Weeks Later.” Her theater credits include “Medea, You Can’t Take it With You” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and she will star opposite Kelli O’Hara in the revival of ”Fallen Angels” on Broadway starting in March.