With Finding Dory, Eugene Levy dives into his latest dad role

"Dad"is one roleCanadian actor Eugene Levy is very familiar with bothonscreen and off.

The SCTV alummakes hislatest splash as the voice of Charlie the loving and protective blue tang papa fish whose daughter (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) suffers from short term memory loss in Disney Pixar's latest 3D animated movieFinding Dory.

In the new film, Levy said his biggest challenge was giving director Andrew Stanton what he wanted.

"I wish I could say it's about going through the scenes like a normal actor would go through a scene onstage or in front of a movie camera," the comic actor toldCBC News.

"But it's really about just hitting every line and giving the director options."

Levy's fictional fatherly abilities have been proven most memorably through his portrayal of the world's most embarrassing dad:Noah Levensteinfromthe American Pie comedy franchise.

Currently, he appears asfamily patriarch Johnny Rose in the CBC-TV sitcomSchitt's Creek, for which he shares screen timewith his real-life kids Dan and Sarah Levy.

"I love stories that deal with family because family is probably the most important thing in all our lives when you get right down to it," he said.

"And they're usually kind of rich in humour."

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Finding Dory isthe long-awaited sequel to 2003's instant classic, Finding Nemo.

The new instalment seesDory setout to find her long-lost parentswith the help of her best friends Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Hayden Rolence), whogatherclues along the way.

Despite her earlierexperience with Finding Nemo,DeGeneressaid shestill felt challenged tomove audiences with nothing but her voice in the new film.

"This is, to me, harder than acting with your body and our facial expressions," she said in a recentinterview with The Associated Press.

"It's challenging to act with only your voice."

Finding Dory opens wide across Canada on Friday.