B.C.-raised dancer Cody Green, left, dances with actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, centre, during the Oscars Sunday in Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Getting very close and personal with Catherine Zeta-Jones, and sliding across the stage next to host Seth MacFarlane during the Oscars was just another night's work for Cody Green, a dancer who grew up in Surrey, B.C.
Green was handpicked by Oscars choreographer Rob Ashford because of his extensive work on Broadway. Green rehearsed for a week and a half for the four dance routines he was in — which is a lot of prep time, he told The Huffington Post B.C. in a phone interview on Monday.
"It's just so much fun when you get a chance to do something like that. It's such a huge honour to do an awards show like that with those kinds of stars," said Green. "And you look out and Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawrence are looking back at you, it's kind of a surreal experience."
The Oscars are just another career highlight for Green who has performed in the Broadway and touring productions of "West Side Story," "Grease" and "Movin' Out." He was the grand prize winner of Bravo TV's "Step It Up & Dance" reality TV competition in 2008.
"It's so different from anything you normally do, especially when it's a one-off performance like that," said Green of the Oscars show.
Mother Susie Green, a longtime dance teacher in the Lower Mainland, said she was thrilled to see her son dancing with Daniel Radcliffe in the opening number.
"I loved the choreography and fun spirit in that number," Susie Green told The Huffington Post B.C. But she says her favourite number was "All That Jazz" with Zeta-Jones: "Code was rockin' it. So proud of him."
Cody Green went to The Julliard School in New York after attending Earl Marriott Secondary School in Surrey.
He moved from New York to Los Angeles last year to focus on his film and TV acting career. Green said he does get back to B.C., including a teaching stint over Christmas and to film an episode of "Once Upon A Time" in January.
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