Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 2014 Man of the Year Is Neil Patrick Harris

Image via vagueonthehow / Flickr

Looks like Justin Timberlake and Neil Patrick Harris have a lot more in common nowadays than a pair of baby blues and some sick comedy chops.

Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals announced that Harris is their 2014 Man of the Year, an honor that has gone to so many notable entertainers like Timberlake, Steven Spielberg, Robert de Niro, and Tom Cruise. Hasty Pudding is the oldest theatrical organization in the United States, and has been awarding Man of the Year recipients since 1963. Harris receives this award alongside Hasty Pudding’s 2014 Woman of the Year, Dame Helen Mirren, announced earlier this month.

Neil Patrick Harris has a notable acting career under his belt. Right now, he’s known for playing Barney Stinson on CBS’s How I Met Your Mother, a role that has earned him several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations between 2008 and 2013. He’s also widely famous in the Broadway and theatre scenes as well; among his theatrical credits are Sweeney Todd (San Francisco Symphony Orchestra), Romeo and Juliet (Old Globe Theater), and Rent (Los Angeles touring production). Harris has had huge success as the master of the ceremonies at the 63rd, 65th and 66th annual Tony Awards—each of which he received primetime Emmys for in the Outstanding Special Class Programs category.

“I assume this is for that pudding wrestling competition I won last April…right?” he said in a press release. “It was dark and seemed quite seedy at the time—I’m stoked that it’s connected with Harvard. Fancy! Can’t wait!”

Harris also tweeted earlier:

Stoked to be Hasty Pudding’s Man of the Year. There’s pressure, though, it’s only January. I really need to accomplish some shit. #pressure

— Neil Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) January 23, 2014

Harris will take part in the The Man of the Year festivities on Friday, February 7. Hasty Pudding Theatricals will host a celebratory roast for the actor and present him with his Pudding Pot at Farkas Hall in Harvard Square. The Woman of the Year ceremonies will take place on January 30 in Cambridge as well.

For more information about Hasty Pudding Theatricals and their ceremonies go to hastypudding.org.