“Every day I believed I was living some version of what this person really experienced,” actor Dominic Sessa told guest hosts Marley Marius and Hannah Jackson on this Thursday’s episode of The Run-Through. The person he is referring to is beloved chef and food writer Anthony Bourdain—subject of the new film Tony—whose mythology and fandom seems only to have grown since his death in 2018.
Tony, directed by Matt Johnson and arriving in theaters on August 7, captures a summer in Bourdain’s life when he was working as a dishwasher at a restaurant in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Along with co-stars Antonio Banderas, Leo Woodhall, Stavros Halkias, and Emilia Jones, Sessa spent four weeks all over Cape Cod, recreating some of Bourdain’s coming-of-age lore.
Johnson’s directing style often involves allowing the actors to improvise, which was a new challenge for the young actor. “It was intimidating, of course, but I was really comfortable with these people,” Sessa said. He confirmed what viewers of Tony might hope to be true—that Halkias came up with all of his punchy insults, including when he says that Tony’s nickname, Flaco, means “an acrobat that jumps from ass to ass.”
Despite being on a tight shooting schedule, Sessa learned a lot working with acting heavyweight Banderas—who happens to also be quite a good cook. Sessa, for his part, claimed only to be able to boil water and make pasta and “I guess I learned how to shuck oysters…and I got better at washing dishes.” Banderas, on the other hand, recently made Sessa a memorable paella in Málaga.
Tony’s New York premiere took place earlier this week, where Sessa sported a chic Celine by Michael Rider look. “I’m afraid to say that when I’m not doing things like this, I dress like shit, for the most part,” Sessa admitted, noting that a large part of his wardrobe consists of old T-shirts from Marshalls and sneakers with holes in them. He credited his stylist, Warren Alfie Baker, with helping him discover his red carpet style.
As for what’s next, he’d love to return to his roots and star in a hockey film. “I don’t need a stunt double,” he said. “It’d save them so much money!”
