After nearly sweeping the precursor circuit, from the New York Film Critics Circle to the Independent Spirit Awards, Jared Leto has capped off his 2013 with a Best Supporting Actor Oscar win for his performance in “Dallas Buyers Club.”
“To all the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight, and this includes the Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say we are here,” Leto said from the stage of the Dolby Theatre. “And as you struggle to make your dreams happen, to live the impossible, we're thinking of you tonight.”
Leto has said throughout the season that, as far as he could tell, his film career was over. After 2007's “Chapter 27” crashed and burned with critics and audiences (after Leto gained nearly 70 lb.s for the role of John Lennon assassin Mark David Chapman), he focused on his music career as frontman for the band “30 Seconds from Mars,” but he grabbed the role of Rayon by the horns, immersing himself in the role and remaining in character throughout the shoot.
“It's what I had to do in order to deliver the best performance possible,” Leto told HitFix after the Toronto Film Festival premiere of the film. “I had to live in that place. I couldn't be one way one moment and then the director says 'action' and immediately my voice jumps up an octave, I remember all these mannerisms and I'm in this emotional place. It didn't make sense. I had to be where I needed to, and that was Rayon. I needed to be in that place.”
“Dallas Buyers Club” is nominated for six Oscars total this evening, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Picture.