Dominic Sessa, the 23-year-old actor who broke through in The Holdovers, returns to the 1970s in the new biopic Tony, where he plays a 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain. The film focuses on one summer in 1975 when Bourdain worked in a Provincetown seafood restaurant and discovered his passion for cooking.
A 1970s Face
Sessa has been described as having a “1970s face,” a euphemism for unconventional. His dark, jumbled curls and wide-set eyes project inner conflict, hinting at the wounded quality beneath the arrogance of his characters.
Before making Tony, Sessa knew little about Bourdain. “I knew of him but he didn’t have any significant meaning for me,” he says. “I think the only way to do the film honestly and without hesitation was to not have a strong opinion about him.”
Immersed in Bourdain's World
Director Matt Johnson pointed Sessa to two chapters from Kitchen Confidential, where he found the characters that inspired the film's kitchen mentors, played by Antonio Banderas, Leo Woodall, and Stavros Halkias. The actors learned real kitchen skills, and Sessa felt genuinely intimidated by their on-set bullying.
Sessa related Bourdain's youthful exploits to his own summers on the Jersey Shore, where he worked in a bakery and partied on the beach. “We were menaces,” he says. “Reading about the way Tony described his time in Provincetown, I was like: ‘Yeah, I get that. I understand.’”
Playing an Unlikable Side
“Playing Tony, I felt as if I was playing an unlikable side of myself,” Sessa admits. “He's insecure and defensive at the start of the movie. I think a lot of young men have a very defensive way.” He adds, “Sometimes when you're young, it's to your detriment that you don't allow yourself to fail in a productive way because you're constantly trying to protect your ego.”
Sessa's remedy for young men is “wilful hardships.” He says, “Comfort is attractive. And we've built a culture around the comforts of the world. Where you really develop and learn the most about yourself is in doing something genuinely difficult.”
Escape the Modern Era
When asked about his period fixation, Sessa says, “Maybe it says something about me. Like I want to escape the modern era.” He loves the bars, the smell of cigarettes, and the absence of mobile phones. “Everybody's looking up, talking to one another.”
He also notes that young people back then were more confident in speaking and more mature in interactions with adults. “Nowadays it takes longer. I have friends in college who still can't handle a social environment because of the way we've grown up. Especially after Covid. My generation got screwed.”
From Hockey to Theatre
Sessa's path to acting was indirect. After a broken femur ended his hockey dreams, he turned to theatre at Deerfield Academy. “I wasn't being myself when I first got to school,” he says. “I was acting in a way that wasn't genuine to who I was.”
Since The Holdovers, Sessa has turned down lead roles and studied drama at Carnegie Mellon University. He credits Tony with helping him decide the kind of actor he wants to be, embracing Bourdain's advice that “good food and good eating are all about risk.”
“I've been open to eating in a lot more B- and C-health-rated places,” he says. “In life generally, I feel more motivated now to follow my gut and take risks and live in the moment.” Tony is in cinemas from 14 August.
