A24 officially cooking up Anthony Bourdain biopic with Dominic Sessa

Antonio Banderas will also star in an undisclosed role.

By Emma Keates  |  April 23, 2025 | 3:16pm
Photos: Sarah Morris/WireImage; Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Discovery
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A24 officially cooking up Anthony Bourdain biopic with Dominic Sessa
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Dominic Sessa hasn’t actually appeared in any projects since he literally crashed onto the scene with The Holdovers in 2023, but you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise considering the casting buzz that’s surrounded him since. He’s already landed parts in Stephanie Laing’s Tow (opposite Rose Byrne and Octavia Spencer) and Now You See Me threequel Now You Don’t. Now, he’s set to join the big leagues (a.k.a. the growing list of up-and-coming actors who’ve made their name through biopics) as Anthony Bourdain in a new film from A24. Not bad for a kid whose biggest role as of just a few years ago was in his high school play.

Sessa’s casting has been rumored since last August, but the studio made it official today, per Variety. The film, titled Tony, will be helmed by Blackberry director Matt Johnson from a script by Todd Bartels and Lou Howe. Antonio Banderas is also set to star, although his role is being kept under wraps as of this writing.

Sessa has a plucked-from-a-different-decade vibe that should help him fit right in on the set of this film. Leaving beloved shows like Parts Unknown and No Reservations in the kitchen, Tony will instead go back in time to the beginnings of the late chef and television host’s career. The film will “take place in 1976 when a young Bourdain has a life-changing experience working and living in Provincetown, Mass,” Variety reports. Production is set to begin next month.

Making a biopic of a late, complicated figure is always a touchy endeavor. Bourdain’s estate has already denounced one biography, 2022’s unauthorized Down And Out In Paradise: The Life Of Anthony Bourdain, which his brother said got things “totally wrong.” They seem to be on board with this project, however. Kimberly Witherspoon, the estate’s representative, will serve as executive producer, along with Star Thrower and Zapruder Films.

 
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