Dominic Sessa Embodies Young Anthony Bourdain in First ‘Tony’ Biopic Peek

Fantastic—Dominic Sessa is apparently the next Anthony Bourdain, spotted June 19 rocking shaggy curls and a leather jacket on a Hyannis ferry for A24’s upcoming biopic Tony. I don’t want to be the one to break it to you, but yes, we’re about to relive Bourdain’s early kitchen days in sunny Massachusetts. I told you so: Hollywood never tires of remaking our heroes.

Sessa, best known for his turn in The Holdovers, traded in his modern garb for the late chef’s signature look—a slightly rumpled red polo under a black moto jacket—while cameras rolled aboard that choppy Cape Cod water taxi. E! News first reported the shoot, and sources confirm (via Biography.com) the setting harkens back to Bourdain’s first cooking gig at 17 in Provincetown. If you thought those breezy New England towns were all postcard-perfect, think again—they’re also the backdrop for his first taste of heroin.

Yes, this isn’t just another foodie flick with pretty plating. This is the Bourdain who told CNN in 2014, “I found my way back to my own past…sweetness, sadness and regret.” The film will apparently tackle both his nascent culinary spark and those darker detours into drug use. It’s not exactly family viewing—in 2018, Bourdain died by suicide at 61, and that grim truth lingers over every shot.

Produced by the indie powerhouse A24, Tony follows on the heels of 2021’s documentary Roadrunner, which dug into Bourdain’s own tapes and interviews with pals and colleagues. As he himself warned in Roadrunner’s trailer, “There’s no happy ending.” That’s the sort of spoiler you deserve up front instead of a sugarcoated homage.

Look, I’m all for celebrating a chef who inspired a generation, but must we wallow in tragedy with every biopic? Still, this glimpse of Sessa perfecting Bourdain’s trademark scowl on Cape Cod waters is hard to ignore. If nothing else, it proves Hollywood loves its nostalgia—and its drama.

What to watch next: keep an eye on later set photos in Provincetown, where those early ’70s kitchen scuffles and Bourdain’s drug reckonings really went down. And that, dear reader, is why we can’t have nice things.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! News via Eonline.com
CNN (Parts Unknown interview, November 2014)
Biography.com
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed