Zookeeper Movie: Cast, Voices, and Animal Actors!

Meet the Crew and the Critters! A Complete Guide to the Zookeeper Cast and Voices!

Zookeeper: A Hilarious Cast of Humans and Talking Animals!

Zookeeper (2011), starring the comedic powerhouse Kevin James, is a wild ride! This fun family movie is about Griffin Keyes (James), a zookeeper facing a midlife crisis, questioning his love life and even his whole career. But things get way more interesting when he learns the animals at his zoo can talk—offering some hilariously bad dating advice. The overall quality is a bit uneven but this still makes for surprisingly good comedic entertainment for audiences looking for such material. What’s truly exceptional about this particular release however remains the talented ensemble behind Zookeeper. It’s not just the human cast! Those furry, feathered, and scaled stars provide surprisingly memorable vocal performances; even the ones who didn’t have spoken dialogue and mostly focused on actions! Let’s dive into this fun movie cast; including this amazing cast of animal actors too! Many might have never guessed who's behind the voices (and physical appearances).

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The Human Stars Who Brought the Zoo to Life

Ken Jeong and Kevin James looking sideways in Zookeeper Image

Kevin James as Griffin Keyes

Kevin James stars as the well-meaning but hapless Griffin Keyes; this guy gets an incredibly important story. He’s deeply devoted to the zoo's animals; creating a critical bond that provides meaning for this entire story arc and its significance. James’ comedic timing works really well in this movie; which focuses primarily on family entertainment. The sheer variety of projects which he took on makes it clear just why this extremely talented actor achieved significant levels of success within that period and audience.

This movie shows another connection with his frequent collaborator Adam Sandler, producing many James's projects and boosting his profile as the leading man in comedic ventures. You know those names?

Rosario Dawson as Kate

Kevin James as Griffin Keyes looking sideways and smiling in Zoookeeper Image

Rosario Dawson brings charm to the movie; playing the delightful vet, Kate! She’s intelligent, empathetic and a kind person who ultimately gets the better relationship with James's main character. Dawson is another extremely experienced and versatile performer: Known from multiple iconic franchises, like Marvel (Nurse Claire Temple), Star Wars (Ahsoka Tano) and Sin City; she truly stands out even when those things that should make someone exceptional are ignored entirely!

Leslie Bibb as Stephanie

Rosario Dawson as Kate looking sideways and smiling in a car in Zoookeeper Image

Leslie Bibb is the perfectly villainous ex-girlfriend Stephanie, and is another critically recognized actor. She provides those levels of antagonists that make most stories more exciting and this performance doesn’t miss either! It isn’t hard to recognize that she's played various major characters in iconic stories like Iron Man and Jupiter’s Legacy.

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The Voice Actors Who Gave Our Furry Friends Their Voices!

Kevin James standing with arms akimbo in Zookeeper Image

Nick Nolte as Bernie

Leslie Bibb looking sideways and smiling in Zoookeeper Image

The great Nick Nolte brings deep emotion as the insightful Bernie; the gorilla who was abused and shut off for a time within a smaller enclosure at that location in Franklin Park Zoo. His past shows both the terrible consequences and that the capacity for love and forgiveness are very possible despite various traumas. Nolte is a legend (that Oscar-nominated role in Warrior) adding even more intensity to that surprising depth within a usually simple kids-movie.

Sylvester Stallone as Joe

Split images of Nick Nolte looking serious in Warrior and a gorilla in Zookeeper Image

The legendary Sylvester Stallone? Yes! The tough guy voices Joe, a big cat with a tough-love approach. Stallone’s incredible performance; his strong and impressive ability to transition even from action hero (those iconic Rambo and Rocky roles) truly shows that diversity in acting skills helps with many different roles.

Adam Sandler as Donald

Split images of Sylvester Stallone in Creed and Joe the lion looking sideways in Zookeeper Image

Adam Sandler, yet another prominent figure, is that amazingly smooth-talking monkey Donald. The voice acting performance here adds an unexpectedly subtle presence within those smaller roles that he takes on occasionally that show incredible versatility! Sandler was one of the movie's producers– so his involvement isn’t that unexpected! Remember that incredibly skilled monkey actress Crystal (The Hangover)? That's Donald's physical performer.

Joe Rogan as Gale

Split images of Adam Sandler looking sideways and a monkey in Zookeeper Image

The famous Joe Rogan? Yup. He plays Stephanie's toxic ex Gale! An unusual acting role compared to most of his roles, as he tends to portray more “self” type roles – he played someone quite distinct!

Nat Faxon as Dave Keyes

Oscar-winning screenwriter Nat Faxon brings humor to Dave Keyes; he's Griffin's brother. He doesn't add anything deeply significant; his appearance serves as that comedic support character to show how different that fraternal bond truly could be.

Ken Jeong as Venom

Nat Faxon looking sideways in Zoookeeper Image

The unbelievably comedic Ken Jeong, is that somewhat socially awkward reptile house employee Venom. It highlights that unique comic timing that Jeong brought to other famous roles (those amazing Hangover films and Community's Ben Chang). It’s awesome seeing Jeong and Crystal the monkey from The Hangover II once again.

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Other Notable Voices and Characters

Let's give a shout-out to some additional actors! Steffiana de la Cruz, James's wife plays Robin Keyes (his brother Dave’s fiancée). The extremely popular Donnie Wahlberg is Shane (the very cruel zookeeper); the beloved Jon Favreau (Iron Man director and Happy Hogan) is Jerome (the bear); Cher is the equally awesome lioness Janet; Faizon Love voices Bruce (a bear); and Maya Rudolph is the friendly giraffe Mollie. And who can forget Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, Trainwreck) as the elephant Barry and Bas Rutten as Sebastian, along with the classic stand-up comedian Don Rickles (Toy Story) as Jim (that very funny frog), and Jim Breuer (from Half Baked) who brings an appropriately crazed performance to Spike (a crow).

Also Read: Changelings, History, Powers, and Appearance: The Terrifying Creatures Expained by The Watchers

Conclusion: A Stellar Cast For an Entertaining Zoo Adventure

Zookeeper's success demonstrates the massive value provided by talented casts of both actors and other personalities including both comedic veterans and incredibly gifted voice actors too; providing a completely successful family friendly experience. Each character whether big or small added to that whole story and provided unique flavor. Those unexpected cameo moments, from producers to voice-acting icons who would bring some amazing perspectives and abilities show some truly intelligent casting choices and truly excellent casting which deserves all the awards; it was ultimately this brilliant collection of very diverse talents and their individual performance within such a small comedic family film, is what truly set the story in stone.