In 'Finding Dory," Kaitlin Olson answered when Destiny called

LOS ANGELES - Kaitlin Olson (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia) agreed to her role in Finding Dory before she knew what it was.

Turns out it was Destiny.

A friendly whale shark.

"It's a Pixar movie!" Olson said in a recent interview. "I love them! So I was super-excited!"

Olson admits voicing Destiny was quite different from her role as Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds on Sunny, which has been described as "Seinfeld on Crack."

"It's so funny," she said, laughing. "When I meet people, they're like, 'Oh, you're nicer than I thought you were going to be.' I'm like, 'I'm a nice person!' I actually have the ability to be kind. Isn't that weird?

"Anyway, [Dory director Andrew Stanton] is a fan of our show and he said that he just loved my voice and thought I was funny and wanted me to do it!"

Olson laughed, then added, "Don't be too shocked! You seem real discombobulated by the fact that Andrew Stanton would want me to be in this movie!"

In Dory, Olson's whale shark Destiny has trouble seeing and is constantly getting laughs by bumping into things. It was that imperfect nature that appealed to Olson.

"I really like a flawed character and Destiny is flawed the same way Sweet Dee is flawed - only it comes out a different way," she said. "I like the idea that she is imperfect.

"Plus, I actually do run into things on a regular basis, so that wasn't so far off! Maybe that's where he got the idea!"

Olson likes the animation process and says her character is now very different from how she was originally conceived.

"I was a killer whale, at first," Olson said, before adding that her comedic partner in the film, Ty Burrell's Bailey, a Beluga whale, was a constant.

"I love Ty," she said. "We actually got to do two recording sessions together and those were some of my most fun times. He's just a fun guy to play around with."

Olson said she saw a screening with her two kids before the premiere and that it was surreal to see herself on screen as an animated character with many of her own mannerisms.

"It's amazing! There's a plush doll of me!" she exclaimed. "My kids fall asleep with one! It's the cutest thing ever! I love it! I've made it!"

Olson said she did one recording session with Dory herself, Ellen DeGeneres.

"She knows her character inside and out," Olson said. "She's very funny and smart."

As for Destiny's voice, Olson explained how she did it.

"Your voice just goes up and then down and then up and then down," she said. "Just make yourself look as ugly as possible and then you've got the 'whale shark voice' down! . . . Comedy's the best!"

With Dory, Olson's comedy and the actress herself, will reach a new, much larger, audience.

"Our show is in Season 12, so it's pretty well-known now, but we still fly under the radar. It's more of a cult following and it's kind of . . . a cool show, but not everybody knows about it," Olson said. "Dory is just going to reach many, many more people, much more quickly."

And now that she's part of the Disney empire could Olson one day cross over into the Marvel or Star Wars universe?

"I'm way too clumsy to be a superhero," she joked. "I mean, I can act - but that's maybe asking a little too much of me."

geek@philly.com