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Ellen DeGeneres Talks About How Character 'Dory' Uplifted Her Life

EMERYVILLE, CA (CBS Sacramento) - You never know what someone is going through until it comes out in an interview. Ellen DeGeneres in a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight admitted that 2003 was one of the lowest points in her life.

She talked about how the memorable character "Dory" uplifted her when she needed it the most. "I hadn't worked at all. People don't realize that, because it took three years to do "Finding Nemo" In the time that [The Ellen Show] was canceled, 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."

Dory's motto from the movie was "just keep swimming" and DeGeneres follows behind this in her own life.

She said, "By the time "Nemo" was coming out, I had just gotten [Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show], but during that time nothing had happened. So 'just keep swimming' certainly applies to me and to a lot of people out there."

DeGeneres has been hard working, passionate and is known for bringing happiness into many people's lives during their struggling time. For everything she has done the comedian was awarded the Entertainment Tonight Icon Award.

One of the biggest moments in her career was the episode on "The Ellen Show" where she came out to the psychiatrist played by Oprah Winfrey. Although DeGeneres earned an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for the episode, ABC canceled the show.

"Of course I was angry at the time, because I wanted the support. I knew that I could possibly lose my show. I didn't realize how many people there were out there that were struggling. I'm suddenly hearing from people that were considering suicide, and that I did do a lot for them and help them."

Disney-Pixar's "Finding Dory" starring Elle DeGeneres will be released in theaters on June 17, 2016.

 

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