‘These cooks ripped each other apart’: Dominic Sessa on playing Anthony Bourdain, kitchen bullies and the joys of being a 70s barfly

A New Generation Discovers Anthony Bourdain Through Dominic Sessa’s Performance

Wanderstayfinder.com – At just twenty-three years old, Dominic Sessa has achieved something remarkable: an actor whose work feels deeply connected to an era he never truly lived through. Born in New Jersey, Sessa has appeared in only five feature films, yet two of them transport audiences to the 1970s with remarkable authenticity. His latest project, titled simply “Tony,” places him in the role of a nineteen-year-old Anthony Bourdain, capturing the future culinary icon during a transformative summer before he became a household name.

The Summer That Changed Everything

The film concentrates exclusively on one season in 1975, documenting Bourdain’s time wandering through Provincetown, Massachusetts, a coastal resort town that served as both sanctuary and crucible for the young chef. During this period, Bourdain fell in love, worked scrubbing pans at a local seafood restaurant, and discovered his passion for cooking. As he later wrote about this chapter of his life, it represented “the perfect getaway” for a restless young man drawn to sensory experiences.

Sessa’s connection to the 1970s extends beyond this new project. His debut film appearance came in Alexander Payne’s Academy Award-winning 2023 comedy-drama “The Holdovers,” where he portrayed Angus Tully, a difficult boarding student left at school during Christmas alongside his classics teacher and the school cook. That film didn’t merely take place in 1970—it visually evoked the decade through its muted color palette and deliberate film grain effects that made it appear as though it had been shot decades earlier.

A Face Built for the Past

Perhaps the most convincing element bridging both films is Sessa himself. Critics have noted his distinctive appearance, describing him as possessing what amounts to a “1970s face”—a polite way of saying unconventional. His thick, dark curls seem almost hand-drawn, while his wide-set eyes sit high on an inverted triangular face. When his characters display arrogance or aggression, there remains something vulnerable in his expression, suggesting someone who will eventually confront his own flaws.

“I knew of him but he didn’t have any significant meaning for me,” Sessa reflected about Bourdain before filming began. “I think the only way to do the film honestly and without hesitation was to not have a strong opinion about him.”

Speaking from a Manhattan hotel room during a video interview, the tall, angular actor—dressed in a brown-and-white checked shirt—explained how immersing himself in Bourdain’s biography transformed his understanding of the chef’s cultural impact. He came to see Bourdain as someone who made audiences feel an “overwhelming sense of potential in themselves,” inspiring countless food content creators and embodying rebellious integrity.

Learning From Real Kitchen Masters

Director Matt Johnson, known for his work on “Blackberry” and “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie,” guided Sessa toward specific chapters in “Kitchen Confidential,” the memoir written in energetic prose about “sex, drugs, bad behaviour and haute cuisine.” These passages introduced him to the three kitchen mentors who would shape the film’s narrative—men Bourdain compared to both “gods” and “pirates.”

The production benefited from filming in an actual working kitchen that had closed only days before shooting began. This authentic environment allowed the cast to engage in real culinary tasks. Stavros Halkias learned lobster roll preparation while Leo Woodall mastered oyster shucking. Sessa found himself assigned dishwashing duties, with his co-stars deliberately teasing him throughout the process.

“They made it all real for me. I felt genuinely intimidated by them. They’re so nice but I think they enjoyed the chance to bully me.”

Roots in the Jersey Shore

Bourdain’s youthful adventures resonated with Sessa’s own experiences growing up along the New Jersey coastline. Raised in Ocean City—a quiet community that transformed into a tourist destination during holiday seasons—Sessa lost his father, whom he described as “a payroll guy,” when he was fourteen years old. His mother, a teacher, passed on her opinionated nature, while his father contributed his sense of humor. One of the first films his father showed him was “Jackass.”

Following his father’s death, Sessa earned a sports scholarship to Deerfield Academy, a Massachusetts boarding school. Summer breaks became periods of wild celebration, with Sessa working early shifts at a local bakery while drinking on the beach before heading to work. “At that age, you felt you were invincible,” he recalled, capturing the spirit that would later define both his character and his own path to becoming an actor.