That's the deal for Scott Trowbridge, from Aberdeen, who is starring in the Disney/Pixar film brought to ice, Finding Nemo.

Scott plays the loveable clownfish's father, Marlin, and just like his character he regularly traverses the seas with the 100-strong production, in a role that is literally oceans apart from his first job in a dentist.

But then Scott, now 28, was on skis by two, practising on local slopes and in Europe, competing in the Britain's Men's Senior championships and coming third in the British Novices championship.

"I stopped skiing at 14 because climate change meant we didn't get enough snow for it any more," he explains, relaxing during a rare break at his parents' Scottish home.

"It's quite a similar sport to skiing because the parallel edges you're using are the same. I just went along to the public skating rink and tried it out.

"I took to the basics very quickly. Actually, I get a lot more from skating because you have more freedom on ice, whereas in skiing you have to do what the mountain dictates. I don't know what it is but I just love winter sports."

He left school and trained as a dental technician. He would feed his hunger for free-skating in the morning before work, the evening and weekends, honing his skills to compete as a free-skater in the British Men's Seniors.

At 24, he decided he wanted to see a bit of the world.

"I applied for Disney on Ice, packed my bags and left," he says. "I started off in Taiwan with Beauty and the Beast, then we headed straight to South-East Asia. After that I went to the US and joined the cast of Finding Nemo, a film I love."

Finding Nemo plunges the audience into the underwater world of one-finned Nemo and his overprotective father, Marlin.

Curious Nemo becomes separated from his safe home in the coral reef and is captured, destined for an aquarium in Sydney Harbour. Meanwhile, accompanied by the optimistic, if somewhat forgetful Dory, his timid father crosses the ocean in a bid to rescue his son.

Huge amounts of time and thought have gone into creating a realistically watery atmosphere.

The ice is lit with aquatic-hued light, and digital projec- tions and ultra-violet beams blend to create the patterns and depth of the ocean bed and its swaying vegetation. Skaters glide about as fish and sharks and, in one particularly spectacular scene, as an iridescent forest of jelly fish, which contains an aerial act on silk ropes.

Particular attention is also paid to the sense of scale. To convey the vastness of the blue whale, production designer John Arnone created a life-sized blue whale – at 43 feet in length, it takes up nearly half the ice. The claustrophobia of the tank is suggested by the proximity of the tank toys and small space to move.

Floating tendrils of material endow the characters with a sense of aquatic creatures' sinuous movement.

Expression of fishy emotion was also taken very seriously by the 38 skaters to create distinct personalities for the various fish, jellyfish, turtles, sharks, stingrays and sea-horses.

"I've seen the film lots of times but we've had loads of character development sessions with character coaches to help us really relate," says Scott.

"They're very good at explaining the feelings and emotions. I learned how deeply Marlin feels compared to normal people, and nothing is left to chance and how you can tell when he's worried or scared.

"Marlin is really over-protective at the start, but he learns a lot about himself and parenthood along the way. I was taught how to use body movement and facial expression to tell the story. You want to do it as best as you can."

The nearest Scott gets to working in a dentist's now is the surgery tank where his fishy fictional son, Nemo, is imprisoned.

"It's better than an office and it's better than competitive skating because the pressure's off and you engage with the audience. It's a great way to see the world. My friends in Aberdeen are a bit jealous."

Disney On Ice's Finding Nemo is on at the Echo Arena on September 24-28. Tickets cost from £11.50 and are available from the Echo Arena Box Office 0844 8000 400 or www.accliverpool.com