Dominic Sessa transforms into Anthony Bourdain in first look at “Tony ”(exclusive)

Jason Sargent Monday, May 4, 2026

Gerrad HallMon, May 4, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC

Dominic Sessa as Anthony Bourdain in 'Tony'Credit: Bob GruenKey Points -

Get a first look at The Holdovers star Dominic Sessa as Anthony Bourdain in Tony.

Director Matt Johnson shares why Sessa was his pick to play the late chef, author, and food/travel host.

Sessa explains what he discovered about playing Bourdain and wanted to highlight in his performance.

He traveled the world exploring the parts unknown, and now, that's what a new movie will do for him.

Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive first look at Tony, starring The Holdovers' Dominic Sessa as famed chef, cookbook author, and food/travel host Anthony Bourdain, who died by suicide in June 2018.

Director Matt Johnson (Nirvanna: The Band - The Show - The Movie, BlackBerry) tells EW he only considered making a movie about Bourdain, which centers on his younger years when he found his way into a restaurant kitchen and on a new path in life, because the script "covered a period of his life that remained mysterious and shrouded in self-report," he explains, noting that Bourdain's 2000 best-selling memoir Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly opened the doors to the story.

"Those two chapters of Kitchen Confidential read like 'Genesis' to me," he says. "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."

Antonio Banderas and Dominic Sessa in 'Tony'Credit: Seacia Pavao

Johnson found the lead of that cast, fittingly, over a meal.

"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 says, citing the "uncanny" connections between Sessa and Bourdain's lives. "[They are] both from Jersey, both sent to private school, but didn't fit in, both restless and searching. I knew if a scene was working when Dom said, 'Seems right,' and I knew it wasn't when he said, 'Why would I say this?' 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."

Tony — which A24 will release in August and was written by Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller, and Todd Bartels and Lou Howe — is set in the summer of 1975, when a 19-year-old Bourdain travels to Provincetown, Mass., where he finds work in a local restaurant and in turn inspiration and purpose in life thanks to, of course, the food, as well as those around him, including characters played by Antonio Banderas, Leo Woodall, Emilia Jones, and Stavros Halkias.

Sessa — who, in addition to his breakout and award-winning work opposite Paul Giamatti in 2023's The Holdovers, also starred in last year's Now You See Me: Now You Don't and Oh. What. Fun. — found a lot of inspiration in Bourdain's curiosity.

"Bourdain never wanted to feel like the smartest guy in the room. He had an unwavering desire to learn as much as he could from the world and the people around him," Sessa says. "The rules by which he lived his life were the result of feeling a responsibility towards the people that surrounded him in the kitchen at a young age, as well as messing things up…a lot."

Dominic Sessa and Leo Woodall in 'Tony'Credit: Seacia Pavao

It also helped that Sessa had a little culinary experience of his own.

"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. I learned a lot about seafood, particularly dishes that are served in Cape Cod," he shares, before joking, "Someone probably got zinc poisoning from the amount of oysters we ate."

The estate of Anthony Bourdain shared its support of the film, saying 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.

Check out more first-look photos and the poster below.