When piranhas must eat a diver on camera, Hollywood directors call Szilvia Gogh. The ice diver and PADI course director — one of the youngest women to earn that title — fell into the gig partly due to a lark. The Hungary native, 39, was looking to relocate from Thailand post-9/11, and could only find flights to Los Angeles. “Based on Jerry Springer, I thought Americans were wacky,” she says; she came anyway. She figured she’d stay if she easily found a job. A week later, the first place to which she applied said yes.

Q: Tell us a few of the shows and movies you’ve worked on.

A: Dexter, Desperate Housewives and the movie Big Miracle.

Q: Most readers would envy your job. How did you get your start?

A: I was working at Aqua Adventures scuba shop right by Disney, Warner Bros., NBC and ABC studios. Movie production people would come in to buy equipment, then ask if we knew someone who could do this or that. I have ice- and cave-diving experience, so things just sort of happened.

Q: How so?

A: My first job was in a bikini in the Pacific Ocean in February. Not too many women volunteered. They wanted an army of us in the sea for the ad they were filming. In the end, it was only one lifeguard and me. My reputation started there.

Q: What’s the hardest part of your job?

A: You often only get one take, like if you’re blowing up a boat.

Q: What has been your favorite day at work?

A: When filming a crash scene for the TV show FlashForward, a crane lowered the bus we were on into the water. The people in front, supposedly unconscious, acted like rag dolls. I was in the scene and made sure everyone could reach the safety air hoses hidden where cameras couldn’t see them. On days like that, I’m thankful — I love that I get paid to play underwater. People say I am so lucky. I love telling them, “You can do this too.” After all, I came to the U.S. with one scuba duffel and two bikinis.

Read more about Szilvia Gogh’s adventures at miss-scuba.com.