It's been a big year for "How I Met Your Mother" star Jason Segel and it just got even bigger – Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals has named the actor-writer its Man of the Year.

Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the nation's oldest drama group, has bestowed its Man of the Year honor on a pretty esteemed bunch of entertainers, from directors like Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese to actors including Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis, but it really prizes Renaissance men. It's most recent honorees have included multi-hyphenate showmen like James Franco, Justin Timberlake, Tim Robbins and Robert Downey Jr.

Segel is certainly a move in that same direction, as the star is currently everywhere you look wearing a variety of caps, acting on TV's "How I Met Your Mother" and in hit films like "Bad Teacher" and the well-reviewed "Jeff Who Lives At Home" and writing flicks like "Forgetting Sarah Marshal." Sometimes he combines both, as he did for "The Muppets" starring in and writing the critically acclaimed box office hit.

Expect the nudity prone performer to put on quite a show when he's roasted in Cambridge, Mass., on Feb. 3.

News that our favorite cardigan sweater enthusiast Taylor Swift has been offered the role of Eponine in "King's Speech" Oscar winner Tom Hooper's big screen musical adaptation of the classic Broadway show/Victor Hugo novel "Les Miserables," co-starring acting A-listers Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, has everyone in the MTV Newsroom in a tizzy.

If she chooses to take the role, will she be any good? We reached out to fans, who seem to want to give the Speak Now singer the benefit of the doubt, and personally think the country-pop superstar will do just fine in the role (can't you just hear her singing "On My Own" already?), but every time a singer puts on the acting cap the critics come out with their pitchforks to proclaim that the odds are against her and most singers make for pretty crappy actors.

Well, that's sometimes true. Madonna, who we love, hasn't had a great run on the big screen and Jessica Simpson and Christina Aguilera haven't has much luck in movies either. But there are plenty of examples of double-threat crossover successes. We've rounded up a few of our favorites after the jump.

Mark Wahlberg
Once upon a time, major movie star Mark Wahlberg was better known as Marky Mark and scored a No. 1 hit with "Good Vibrations." But his heart was really in acting, and after proving himself in small roles in "The Basketball Diaries" and "Renaissance Man," he landed his big (literally!) break in Paul Thomas Anderson's award-winning "Boogie Nights." A string of critical and box office hits ("Three Kings," "The Perfect Storm") followed soon after and now he's about as big a movie star as you can be, headlining hits like "The Italian Job" and earning an Oscar nomination for his supporting turn in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed."

Cher
While she's put acting on the back burner for years (save for a turn in the 2010 misfire "Burlesque"), Cher is arguably at the top of the heap when it comes to singers-turned-actors. After tearing up the '60s and '70s with hits like "Half-breed," "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" and "Dark Lady," Cher's music career hit a rough patch (one it would go on to recover from again and again and again), so she decided to try something new in the '80s and headed into the acting game. As it turned out, she was far better at it than anyone expected, earning an Oscar for her turn in "Moonstruck" and a nomination for "Silkwood" (she should have been nominated for "Mask" as well, if you ask us). She also starred in box office hits like "The Witches of Eastwick" and "Mermaids."

Will Smith
Do we even need to explain this one. We mean, you know the story and he's pretty much the biggest movie star in the world with two Oscar nominations and countless box office megahits under his belt.

Jennifer Hudson
Hudson became well-known for her astonishing voice as a contestant on "American Idol" but she proved that her pipes weren't her only weapon. She could act too and scored an Oscar for her very first film, "Dreamgirls." She's gone on to scoop up accolades in both film and music, including a couple of Grammy Awards. With her obvious stage presence and ability to do just about anything, we have a feeling she could be a contender to join the EGOT society of performers who have won the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

Queen Latifah
Latifah was already a boundary-breaking figure in hip-hop when she caught the acting bug, starring in the hit sitcom "Living Single." She continued to put out successful records as her acting career took her from the small screen to the big one. In short order she lined up a series of hits, including "Bringing Down the House," "Beauty Shop," "Hairspray" and "Chicago," which snagged her an Oscar nomination.

Here in the MTV Newsroom, we are lucky enough to have some of the biggest stars in the world swing through for a visit, but it's not often that a star lights up the room by being as down-to-earth and approachable as Charlize Theron. To say that the Oscar-winning actress was a riot is an understatement. (But noting that I'm now blind because she was the most beautiful person I've ever actually seen in real life is not.)

Dealing with the famous and fabulous can definitively be a mixed bag. For every pro who rolls in on time and ready to go, there's a star who arrives late with a list of things you're not allowed to ask them (and they're almost always the things people most care about). We're pleased to report that Theron, who is getting awards buzz for "Up in the Air" director Jason Reitman's "Young Adult," falls squarely in the earlier category. In fact, Theron got here early … so early that we didn't quite have the interview space and cameras ready to go for her "After Hours" sitdown with our very own Josh Horowitz.

So what's a major movie star to do when she has 10 or so minutes to kill? Well, she hangs out in the newsroom amongst the worker bees, of course. Theron and her team joked around, laughed and carried on in a way that made us think she'd be a blast to have a drink with. Be jealous!

Check out the trailers for Theron's next two films, "Young Adult" and "Snow White and the Huntsman," after the jump.

"Young Adult":

"Snow White and the Huntsman":

In a "ballsy" attempt to promote her cause for animal rights, more specifically the neutering and spading of dogs, "New Year’s Eve" star Katherine Heigl teamed up with Funny or Die and came up with a ridiculously hilarious viral PSA about her hate of balls. No, not tennis balls or yoga balls … yep, you guessed it – Man Balls.

"It was really the Funny or Die guys that came up with the sketch idea and I have sort of an off-center sense of humor, I guess, and I thought it was really funny," she explained to MTV News at the "NYE" junket. Check it out below:

"I thought it was a great way to make our point and talk about a cause that a lot of people sort of already know about or aren’t that aware of that are probably kind of tired of the same old approach to it so we trying to shake it up a little and catch people’s attention," she added.

In the video, which you can check out after the jump, Heigl spends roughly three minutes discussing how much "terrible, terrible testicles" disgust her. "Unfortunately, I can’t cut the nuts off human men … yet. So I’ve dedicated my time to the neutering of dogs. Cause that's legal!"

She prepared a list of the pros and cons of nuts. Among the attributes listed on the cons list are jiggly, look awful shaved, look awful unshaved, crinkly and wrinkly like an old Muppet, creepy guys grab at them and on and on. And on the pros list? Nothing.

Watch:

Heigl took out her balls frustration on two boxing speed bags, punching them and cutting them down with hedge clippers, a cringe-worthy event for even the manliest man who had the "balls" to picture it in his head. But she assures us it isn’t men, and certainly not their packages, that she hates. Just the pair of nasty that comes along with them.

The actress has gone to great lengths recently to promote her charity, the Jason Heigl Foundation, including not only this PSA but posing topless with a dog. Now that’s dedication! But unfortunately the awareness may not be going as well as planned.

“I think the sad news is that everyone’s seen the video but no one’s necessarily donating to the cause so I’m crying into my pillow at night,” she told MTV News.

If you'd like to help her correct that, you can donate to the cause by texting SNIP to 20222 ($5) or FIXIT ($10) to 20222.

By Zachary Swickey

Fans who have been missing Nine Inch Nails since the group’s retirement (at least from the stage) have been anxiously awaiting details on the upcoming Trent Reznor-helmed score to director David Fincher’s newest labor of love, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." The totally badass teaser trailer released earlier this summer features Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) vocally slaying a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” and the fan reactions have been more than positive.

Writing on the Nine Inch Nails website last night, Reznor states, "For the last fourteen months Atticus [Ross] and I have been hard at work on David Fincher’s 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.' We laughed, we cried, we lost our minds and in the process made some of the most beautiful and disturbing music in our careers. The result is a sprawling three-hour opus that I am happy to announce is available for pre-order right now. The full release will be available in one week – December 9th."

So in only one week’s time, fans can pick up the digital album version for $12, a fancy high quality download or CD for $14, or they can shell out $300 for the swank deluxe limited edition (of 3,000) that includes: six pieces of vinyl, a metal packaging cover, the autographs of Trent and Atticus Ross, and even an 8gb razor blade USB pendant that is inspired by Rooney Mara’s similar necklace in the film among other things. If you make any pre-orders, you’ll get the killer Karen-O track for download right now.

Not bad deals for three hours of music and in keeping Reznor’s affinity for releasing things gratis, a six-track sampler is available for free download. Some included song titles sound rather appropriate for a dark Fincher film: "Hidden In Snow," "People Lie All the Time," "Please Take Your Hand Away" and "Under the Midnight Sun" to name a few.

Trent Reznor’s debut to the world of scoring – another Fincher-directed masterpiece, "The Social Network" – received amazing reception from critics and fans alike, even picking up an Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Related:
>>> Rooney Mara Talks 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' Transformation
>>> New 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' Poster Isn't Nude, But Noirish
>>> 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' Trailer: Four Minutes With Lisbeth Salander

By Henna Kathiya

Tyler Perry fans were not too happy about his choice of casting reality star Kim Kardashian in his latest project, "The Marriage Counselor." Two weeks ago, Perry announced Kardashian had been chosen to play Ava, a co-worker of Judith (Jurnee Smollett), an Ivy League educated therapist who decides to step outside of her marriage to spice up her life. Fans of the prolific director immediately took to the message boards, denouncing Perry’s choice of someone they feel to be morally questionable. In light of Kardashian recently announcing her divorce from Kris Humphries after only 72 days of marriage, Perry’s fans are even more enraged.

After weeks of fans protesting the casting of Kardashian in "The Marriage Counselor," Perry defended his actions in an open letter on his website. It seems as if the mind behind "Madea" believes that Kim K. is a role model to millions of her followers. Perry finds that casting her in his film would be the ideal way to bring them to see his movie.

In his letter he states: “She literally has millions of young people following her. I thought and still do think, that it would be very responsible of her to be a part of this film. To have the young people that look up to her, see her in a film that is about what happens in life when you make the wrong choices. Whether you’re aware of it or not, to be honest with you I wasn’t, millions of young people adore her and are following her every move. If one of those young people see this film and find the strength to live a better life and not go through what these characters went through in this movie, then we have all done what I feel I’m being led to do here. I hope you understand. I really do!”

So Perry is sticking to his guns on this one, regardless of what fans think, hoping to send a positive message? He signs off his letter with one more impactful line: “I believe that my films speak from the inside out, why wouldn’t Kim Kardashian be invited into a film about Faith, Forgiveness and the healing power of God? What is wrong with that??”

Who are we to judge someone looking for forgiveness? Right?

It's time for a confession – we're just not that into "Twilight." It's not that we're haters or anything; it's just that it's not our scene. We like our vampires dark and scary not teenaged and angsty. That said, we're totally into Kristen Stewart and wish the series well.

So we're a bit distressed to hear that our girl Kristen gets chewed up – literally! – in "Breaking Dawn – Part 1." When we heard that Robert Pattinson's Edward is forced to quite literally chew a fetus out of Bella when a scalpel can't penetrate the placenta, we freaked out a little bit. That sounds insane!

In honor of this horrendous sequence, our pals at MTV Movies rounded up the 10 most gruesome birth scenes in film. Get a taste after the jump and visit MTV Movies Blog for the full list!

From MTV Movies Blog:

"Conan the Barbarian"
As if we needed any more evidence that Ron Perlman is the coolest dude on earth, he swoops in out of nowhere to perform a mid-battle cesarean on his wounded wife. Then he holds little Conan above his head like he just scored the winning touchdown at the Super Bowl and is gonna spike the kid on the ground.

"Knocked Up"
This one's gross only in that we didn't see it coming. Not for a second did we assume Judd Apatow would train his camera on Katherine Heigl's stunt vagina. But he did. And we were left thinking the audience — to tweak what Jay Baruchel had declared minutes earlier in the movie — shouldn't have gone in there.

"The Brood"
It's not enough that this woman asexually reproduced and is carrying her baby outside her body thanks to the deranged ministrations of her psychotherapist? She then has to grasp her mutant dwarf baby and lick it clean of blood, placenta and who knows what else? No, for David Cronenberg, it was not nearly enough.

"The Fly"
In what can only be described as Cronenberg's effort to out-Cronenberg himself after "The Brood," the director has poor Geena Davis — terrified that she would give birth to a mutant freak after Jeff Goldblum impregnated her — dream that she is giving birth to a huge bloody larva worm thing.

Want more? Visit MTV Movies Blog.

Really? Really?

Listen, it's not that Cooper isn't a very attractive guy. He is, of course. And it's not that he doesn't seem charming. (Who else will speak French so fluently in your ear?) Plus, we know he can be damn funny when he needs to be (see: "Wedding Crashers" and "Wet Hot American Summer").

It's more that the timing seems so off. Sure, Cooper had a big hit with "The Hangover Part II," but let's be serious – how many of us are still under that movie's spell? When the subject came up this morning in the MTV Newsroom, some people – people who report on the entertainment industry for a living! – couldn't remember if it came out in March or April (it actually came out in May). So that's the impact it had.

It's an especially strange choice considering this year had an undeniable breakout hunk in the heavenly form of Ryan Gosling, star of box office hits like "Crazy, Stupid, Love" and critical darlings "Ides of March" and "Drive" (no one character this year epitomized the guys want to be him/girls want to date him dynamic more than Gosling's smoking hot Driver).

But don't take our word for it! Our resident Gosling enthusiast over at Hollywood Crush makes a pretty convincing case for why Gosling should have been the man on the cover rather than one of the many others celebrated inside the magazine. Check it out.

We mean seriously! Check this guy out. What's not to love?

Pretty much everyone in the MTV Newsroom is obsessed with the bestselling book series by Suzanne Collins and can't wait to see this movie. Reaction around the Newsroom to the trailer was pretty much universally positive (and it's worth noting that we are in the business of nitpicking about all things entertainment). We were treated to a good look at some important moments from the book – from the Reaping to the tributes training for the arena – and got a glimpse of pretty much all of the important characters (is it just us, or does it seem like Elizabeth Banks is going to be perfection as Effie?).

But why trust us? Our sister over on Hollywood Crush reached out to "Hunger Games" fan groups and experts to get their thoughts on this first long form look at the film. Check out what they had to say below.

For the full trailer, visit Hollywood Crush!

For full "Hunger Games" coverage, visit Hollywood Crush and MTV Movies Blog.