The first photos of Dominic Sessa as beloved chef Anthony Bourdain in the upcoming biopic “Tony” have been released.
The film, produced by A24, will focus on Bourdain’s younger years, as he worked to become an established chef.
“Tony” Covers A “Mysterious” Period Of Bourdain’s Life
Director Matt Johnson was inspired by Bourdain’s seminal memoir, “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly,” Entertainment Weekly reported.
The biopic will feature on Bourdain’s younger years, as he worked his way through restaurant kitchens, with the script covering “a period of his life that remained mysterious and shrouded in self-report,” said Johnson.
“Those two chapters of ‘Kitchen Confidential’ read like ‘Genesis’ to me,” he shared.
“So little happens, but the margins are packed. It meant the cast and I could investigate this man’s origin together, knowing only where he would end up 20 years later.”
The film, set in Provincetown, Massachusetts, will also star Antonio Banderas, Leo Woodall, Emilia Jones, and Stavros Halkias.
The estate of Bourdain, who died in 2018, shared their support of the film in a statement.
Anthony Bourdain’s legacy is meaningful to millions of people. He was a man who valued authenticity above all else and would have been both moved and baffled by the world’s curiosity about his life.
We chose to support ‘Tony’ because it is not a standard biopic and doesn’t attempt to summarize a life. Guided by the vision of director Matt Johnson, the film depicts one transformative summer in 1975 in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It is an interpretation, as that part of Tony’s life will always remain somewhat unknown.
We appreciate the portrayal of Tony’s complexity, his intellectual appetite, and his conviction — qualities that eventually took him around the globe and endeared him to so many. We hope this film serves as a reminder that every journey has a start, and that audiences see the beginnings of the man who taught us how to be better explorers on our own paths.
Sessa “Carries The Entire Story,” Says Director
GettyDominic Sessa, known for his role in “The Holdovers,” will be starring as the “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” chef.
Johnson was drawn to the “uncanny” similarities between Sessa and Bourdain. “[They are] both from Jersey, both sent to private school, but didn’t fit in, both restless and searching,” he said.
“I had lunch with Dominic in New York with my producer, and within an hour we were writing what would become the screenplay of the movie together,” he said.
“More than any movie I’ve ever made, this film was a partnership with an actor. He is in every shot of the movie, and carries the entire story on his hunched shoulders.”
Sessa brought his own culinary experience to the role.
“I had worked at a bakery for several years in the past, so I guess that felt like a similar type of environment to the kitchen on set,” he shared.
“I learned a lot about seafood, particularly dishes that are served in Cape Cod. Someone probably got zinc poisoning from the amount of oysters we ate.”
However, in an interview with ID, he joked, “I cook a few things, sure, but I’m, like, a dishwasher for a lot of the movie!”
Filming “Tony” Was “One Of The Best Experiences,” Says Sessa
GettySessa described filming “Tony” as “one of the best experiences of my life,” in an Entertainment Tonight interview.
“I got to play him at an earlier point in his life,” he explained. “We shot a lot of the movie in Provincetown, where he spent a lot of time when he was younger. And so many people there like, actually had… real experiences with him, and connected with him.”
Sessa also shared the most “fascinating” discovery he made about Bourdain. “He really had no interest in, you know, being a cook and being involved in restaurants,” he said.
“He was someone that wanted to be a writer and ultimately got to do that. But… it was cool to learn that, you know, he used cooking and his experience in restaurants to ultimately do the thing that he loved in the first place. And he, you know, created a perfect kind of synergy of those things, which made him such a specific and special person.”
“It’s a story about a young man who’s [expletive] up and figuring it out,” he explained to ID. “That was incredibly relatable to me, and the main reason I wanted to do it.”
“I wasn’t bound to any sort of portrayal of him,” he said, speaking of playing Bourdain before he was famous. “I tried to forget about the weight of how many people consider this person to be so respected and iconic.”
“Tony” is slated for an August release date.
