BG man is 'Munchkin #12' in new Oz movie - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

A man from Bowling Green makes his big screen debut in the movie "Oz the Great and Powerful" which opened in theaters last weekend raking in almost $80 million in ticket sales.

Dan Cota has worked at Promedica Toledo Hospital for 13 years. The 55-year-old took a leave of absence for almost three months back in 2011 to film the movie in Detroit.

 "I was Munchkin Number 12," says Cota who was hired as an extra but did much more than stand in a crowd. "When I tried out they realized I did have a little bit of dance skills so I was put on the Munchkin dance team."

Cota says this was his first professional acting job, though he did some theater about five years ago before the Oz casting call.

"Another little person friend from Detroit e-mailed me and said, ‘We need you to sign up. We need all the dwarves we can get,'" says Cota.

"A typical day was probably 50 percent wait, the other 50 percent actually on set," says Cota. "I had my own personal makeup artist like most everyone did. Two hours for every session. Two hours for makeup every morning."

"Just the lights and camera alone is worth in the millions so that's exciting," says Cota. "Working about ten feet from Mila Kunis, James Franco, and Michelle Williams … that was pretty exciting, too."

Cota appears in four scenes for a total of eight seconds.

"I'm his biggest fan!" says Karen Cota, Dan's wife who is the Lifestyles editor for the Sentinel-Tribune in Bowling Green.

She and her husband have already seen the movie three times

 "Seriously, I was just thrilled and impressed, not just with Dan but the whole cast, all of the extras, because that's who I was watching," says Karen.

Dan Cota says he won't quit his day job, but he's been bitten by the acting bug.

"The sequel's coming out and I'm dying to do it again but my health tells me maybe I'd better not," says Cota.