(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Rosario Dawson had a connection with Zookeeper director Frank Coraci because of their "East Side bond".

The 32-year-old actress was born in New York, and in the 90s was part of the city's hip skateboarding scene in the East Side neighbourhood. Big Apple native Frank was thrilled to direct Rosario in romantic family comedy Zookeeper, and enjoyed the fact they had a common background.

"The other cool little fact to know about Rosario and I is that - before I made movies and before she was acting - we both lived a block away from each other in the East Village of NYC.

"We figured out she surely must have skateboarded past me a number of times in the mid 90s. So we had that sort of NY, East Side bond going, too. She's the coolest," gushed the moviemaker to Cover Media.

The 45-year-old has always been an admirer of Rosario's work. Frank knew that she would be ideal for the role of Kate in the picture about a group of zoo animals who help their keeper, played by Kevin James, to find love. The director is impressed with Rosario's comedy timing, and was particularly amazed by her dancing skills.

"My approach to comedy is to usually have my actor's performances based in reality and that was the case with Zookeeper. Rosario was great, because she is funny in an understated way that was the perfect foil to Kevin's comedy.

"And when the time came for her to do some physical stuff, like when she dances at the wedding, she totally stepped it up and had us all laughing," he added.

"I'm a huge fan of Rosario and have always wanted to work with her. She has this awesome way of bringing her beautiful centered energy to the big screen. I knew it would be perfect for her character in Zookeeper. It really added to the heart and was very in line with the theme of the movie."

Zookeeper hits UK cinemas on July 29 2011. (C) Cover Media