Dominic Sessa to Play Anthony Bourdain in Biopic ‘Tony’

Hollywood is gearing up to celebrate the life of the late, great Anthony Bourdain with a brand new biopic.

Aptly named Tony, the forthcoming feature film will take audiences through the vibrant life and illustrious career of the beloved chef and television host, who tragically passed away by suicide in 2018 at the age of 61. The production has already pulled in an impressive cast and crew, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film is a collaboration between New York-based studio A24 and Los Angeles-based production company Star Thrower Entertainment. The script, penned by Todd Bartels and Lou Howe, will be brought to life under the direction of Matt Johnson, known for Blackberry. Trevor and Tim White are in talks to produce alongside Matthew Miller and Johnson, with Emily Rose serving as executive producer.

Stepping into the shoes of the iconic culinary guru is young American actor Dominic Sessa. The 21-year-old New Jersey native made his film debut in Alexander Payne’s coming-of-age dramedy The Holdovers. In that film, Sessa portrayed the troubled student Angus Tully, acting opposite Paul Giamatti’s curmudgeonly teacher, Paul Hunham. Sessa’s stellar performance earned him a Critics Choice Award for Best Young Performer and a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Now poised to appear in Now You See Me 3, Sessa faces a significant challenge in portraying Bourdain. The chef’s journey to fame began in the early 2000s with his raw and unfiltered memoir, Kitchen Confidential. This book’s success led to a series of travel programs that catapulted Bourdain into the spotlight. Through these shows, he traveled the world, offering viewers a taste of the most authentic culinary experiences. The narrative could have felt formulaic, but Bourdain’s deep curiosity and magnetic on-screen presence made each episode a unique journey. His series, No Reservations, captivated audiences for eight seasons, followed by the equally celebrated Parts Unknown, which ran for 12 seasons. Both shows garnered numerous awards and a global following.

Bourdain’s story has captured the imagination of filmmakers before. Kitchen Confidential was adapted into a TV series in 2005, starring Bradley Cooper as Bourdain. More recently, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville premiered Roadrunner, a documentary about Bourdain, at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021.

Details about Tony remain limited. It’s unclear which periods of Bourdain’s life the film will explore or when it will premiere. However, given the talented team behind it, the production is poised to offer a captivating portrayal of an unforgettable figure.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter