Dory's role in 'Finding Nemo' saved Ellen DeGeneresLos Angeles, Nov 21(AZINS) Funnywoman Ellen DeGeneres has revealed getting the part of Dory in Finding Nemo was her salvation during a low point in her life.

While the 57-year-old star is now happily married to Portia de Rossi and has a successful daytime talk show, she admitted that after her sitcom The Ellen Show was cancelled in 2002 she struggled to find work, reported Female First.

"I hadn't worked at all. People don't know that, because it took three years to do Finding Nemo. In the time that (The Ellen Show) was cancelled, while I was doing nothing, (writer/director) Andrew Stanton had heard my voice on TV and how rambling I was and how I never stayed on topic, and he wrote Dory with me in mind."

"By the time Nemo was coming out, I had just gotten The Ellen DeGeneres Show, but during that time nothing had happened. So (Dory's motto) 'just keep swimming' certainly applies to me and to a lot of people out there."

DeGeneres is starring in the sequel Finding Dory.