Academy Awards 2014: Ellen DeGeneres' star

Ellen DeGeneres takes a selfie with friends at the Oscars. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times / )

Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres went to great lengths to fill the frame of a cellphone self-portrait with a veritable who's who of Hollywood stars -- including Jennifer Lawrence, Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt -- and the resulting photograph was a hit: Within minutes of DeGeneres posting the photo on Twitter, the photo racked up more than half a million re-tweets and 300,000 favorites.

Stepping into the audience, DeGeneres recruited Meryl Streep, Lawrence, Pitt, Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Kevin Spacey, Lupita Nyong'o and her brother, among others, to take the selfie with her.

Jared Leto, fresh off his win for supporting actor for 'Dallas Buyers Club,' joined the fun as well with a last-minute photobomb.

On Twitter, DeGeneres lamented that Cooper, who ended up snapping the photo, couldn't fit more famous faces in the photo. 'If only Bradley's arm was longer,' she wrote.

In the wake of what DeGeneres labeled the 'best photo ever,' Twitter itself appeared to struggle with the demand: The service was unavailable for several minutes after the photo was posted.

If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars http://ift.tt/1hVJDfb

- Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014 ALSO: FULL COVERAGE: Oscars 2014 OSCARS 2014: The complete list of winners OSCARS 2014: Academy Awards through the years

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