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He's already an international rock star, but Jared Leto almost lost it Sunday when he locked eyes with a tough guy while accepting his Oscar.
"This is actually a very small venue for (my group) Thirty Seconds to Mars, but of course when you have to stand up there without your band, and it's obviously not a Thirty Seconds to Mars audience, it's a different thing," he said backstage after winning for Best Supporting Actor.
PHOTOS: ACADEMY AWARDS RED CARPET 2014"At one point in my speech I found myself talking right to (Robert) De Niro, as if the room wasn't intimidating enough," he said with a laugh. "I was like, 'Bad choice! Let me go back over to my mom.'"
Leto won for his role in "Dallas Buyers Club" and mentioned the political unrest in Ukraine and Venezula in his acceptance speech.
RELATED: JARED LETO THANKS HIS MOTHER IN OSCAR SPEECH "We are here and as you struggle to make your dreams happen, to live the impossible," he said. "We're thinking of you tonight."
He said backstage that the comments were "important" to him.
RELATED: SEE IT: JENNIFER LAWRENCE TRIPS AT OSCARS... AGAIN!"I think it's appropriate to the material, the story of the film," he said. "You have an opportunity when you stand on the stage. You can make it about yourself, or you can hold up a mirror and shine a light, and that's what I chose to do tonight."
He said he has a music show planned in the Ukraine in the coming weeks and had a show in the works in Venezuela.
RELATED: '12 YEARS A SLAVE,' 'GRAVITY' SURGING IN CLOSEST ACADEMY AWARDS IN YEARS "I feel at home all over the world, and for me these global issues impact us in a really direct way," he said. "I felt on behalf of the people I interact with on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook, and my own interests as a person in a global band, it was important to address those things."
He got a big round of applause when he first waltzed into the backstage press room and immediately passed his statue into the scrum of journalists.
RELATED: PHARRELL DANCES WITH LUPITA NYONG'O, AMY ADAMS DURING OSCAR PERFORMANCE"Does anybody want to try it out for size?" he asked.
"Pass it around. But if you have swine flu, please don't touch it," he said. "I bet this is a first, the first person to ever give their Oscar away for an orgy in the press room."
He encouraged people to take photos holding his award and scoffed when an event employee informed him cameras were banned from the room.
"No fun," he said as another handler collected the award from the crowd.
"And thanks for getting my Oscar dirty with your fingerprints," Leto said as he left.
ndillon@nydailynews.com
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Amzing Moment: Leto talks about locking eyes with De Niro