Dominic Sessa to play Anthony Bourdain in new biopic: Details

Sessa recently starred in 2023's "The Holdovers."

April 24, 2025, 4:30 PM

Dominic Sessa will star as Anthony Bourdain in a new biopic about the late chef's life.

A24 confirmed the casting news for the upcoming film -- which will be called "Tony" -- on Wednesday, re-sharing a post from Variety about the casting news on the social platform X.

Antonio Banderas will also appear in the movie, though his role is being kept under wraps, Variety reported. The film will take place in 1976 and cover the life-changing experiences Bourdain had working and living in Provincetown, Massachusetts, according to the outlet.

Bourdain enrolled in culinary school in 1978, two years after the film is set.

He was the executive chef of Brasserie Les Halles in New York City and penned the 2000 memoir "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly."

PHOTO: Dominic Sessa | Anthony Bourdain
Dominic Sessa attends Cirque Du Soleil's "Luzia" New York Premiere at Randall's Island on March 06, 2025 in New York City. | Anthony Bourdain attends the Creative Arts Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 10, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.
Emma Mcintyre|Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Bourdain also received several Creative Arts Emmy Awards during his life, as well as several posthumous Emmys, for his work on the unscripted series "Parts Unknown." He died in Strasbourg, France, in 2018 at age 61.

Matt Johnson is set to direct the biopic from a script written by Todd Barrels and Lou Howe. The project begins shooting in May.

Bourdain's estate rep Kimberly Witherspoon serves as an executive producer on the film.

ABC News has reached out to A24 for more information.

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