When the camera cuts, the interview isn’t over. With “Cut for Time,” TODAY.com asks the burning questions our anchors couldn’t get to on-air.
Dominic Sessa arrives at the Orange Room, TODAY.com’s backstage content space at Studio 1A, wearing corduroy pants and a sweater vest. He paces as he waits for his TODAY segment. For Sessa, who plays the late chef, author and television personality Anthony Bourdain in A24’s latest biopic, the stakes have never been higher.
Bourdain, who died in 2018, remains a household name for chefs and casual diners alike. His culinary travel shows (like “Parts Unknown” and “No Reservations”) brought audiences to far-flung places in pursuit of delicious meals and the connection they make possible.
“Tony,” the first studio film from Matt Johnson, takes audiences through a singular summer in a 19-year-old Bourdain’s life, based on the opening chapters of Bourdain’s memoir, “Kitchen Confidential,” which catapulted him to fame. Working at a restaurant in Cape Cod, the Bourdain introduced in “Tony” is pursuing purpose and prominence, leaning on a deceitful “fake it ‘till you make it” mentality until he has a rude awakening courtesy of the kitchen heat.
Sessa, during his TODAY interview, said he thinks he was “type-cast” to play Bourdain. Now 23, Sessa was first plucked from boarding school to play opposite Paul Giamatti in the Oscar-nominated movie “The Holdovers” in 2023. Until that point, he had never acted on camera.
“At times, especially in high school, I was very kind of outlandish and didn’t really operate with integrity. That’s kind of how this character is introduced in the film,” Sessa said during his TODAY chat with Sheinelle Jones on July 27.
Like the late Bourdain once did, Sessa now finds himself ascending in a career that demands confidence right out of the gate. TODAY.com caught up with him ahead of the movie’s release.
You have connections to Bourdain’s early life, from growing up in New Jersey to working in a restaurant yourself. Was it important to you that you had those connections?
For me, the biggest thing was putting yourself in a risky environment. That was something I was actually really familiar with as a young person. When I went to high school, I didn’t really have a solid sense of self and was role-playing a lot of different people and personalities. Then I started acting, and it was the first time that I had to really operate with genuine integrity. Similarly, at least in this movie, Tony inserting himself in that environment where lying and not being true to yourself is what’s going to destroy you.
What would you say was the hardest kitchen skill you had to learn? Shucking an oyster?
That was definitely difficult. That was the one thing that I really prepped for the movie, and I think it’s really symbolic of the film. You can’t force it open, or else it’s just ruined, and you have to act with a certain level of care and assertiveness to open an oyster successfully.
When you were on Cape Cod, could you feel Bourdain’s presence?
One hundred percent. He worked at a few different restaurants in Provincetown. One of them that we frequented is called Ciro & Sal’s. A lot of the people that worked there, the owner at the time, worked with (Bourdain) when he was there in the ‘70s. That was invaluable information. Just to talk to people who actually worked with him in the kitchen and saw him.
Johnson said that you were the reason he made the film. How did that feel? Was that affirming, or did you feel pressure?
I don’t know. I think Matt (Johnson) and I just have really similar sentiments about the world, and especially about being a young man. I think he saw himself in me in a lot of ways. As much as this was a life-changing kind of experience for me, I think equally for him. He learned a lot about himself.
Many idolize Bourdain, but you and Johnson said you don’t. How do you reckon with how some people who are going to be watching this see him as a hero?
I don’t think we would have been able to make it if we were coming from a point of already being huge fans of Bourdain. I think the fact that this was both of our entry point into learning about him and discovering him is what makes it feel grounded and genuine and why it’s not trying to be this pedestal for this person that we’re idolizing. I don’t think we would have been able to come at it from a genuine place if that were the case.
What would you say is the biggest lesson Bourdain taught you through taking on this role and taking on his mind?
I think just leading with the truth. Being honest and being OK with not being a fully formed person yet. I think I’m at this age where I, and for a lot of young people as well, want to be respected, want status that you haven’t necessarily earned yet. Learning the right way to do that and to actually understand your potential is life-changing.
