Ellen DeGeneres is returning to acting after a five-year hiatus, reprising her voice role as Dory in a new Pixar short film set in the Finding Nemo universe. The 68-year-old former talk show host confirmed the news on Instagram, sharing a screenshot of a Deadline report with the caption: “Excited about this.”
Plot details and a release date for the untitled short have not yet been announced. DeGeneres last voiced the character in the 2021 mini-series Pixar Popcorn. Her iconic blue tang fish, known for her short-term memory loss, first appeared in the 2003 film Finding Nemo, helping clownfish Marlin find his son. She later starred in the 2016 sequel Finding Dory, which grossed $486 million in the US and over $1 billion worldwide.
The new role comes months after DeGeneres returned to the US from the UK, where she and her wife, Portia de Rossi, had moved following Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024. In February, People reported the couple purchased a home in California, though a source said they plan to split time between the UK and Montecito, California.
DeGeneres had confirmed the UK move in July 2025, saying they arrived the day before the election and decided to stay after Trump’s victory. However, in August, they put their Cotswolds home on the market for $30 million, having paid $20 million for it in spring 2024. DeGeneres explained the sale was due to the need for horse facilities for de Rossi.
