When the camera cuts, the interview isnโt over. With โCut for Time,โ TODAY.com asks the burning questions our anchors couldnโt get to on-air.
Dominic Sessa arrives at the Orange Room, TODAY.comโs 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 A24โs 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 โParts Unknownโ and โNo Reservationsโ) brought audiences to far-flung places in pursuit of delicious meals and the connection they make possible.
โTony,โ the first studio film from Matt Johnson, takes audiences through a singular summer in a 19-year-old Bourdainโs life, based on the opening chapters of Bourdainโs memoir, โKitchen Confidential,โ which catapulted him to fame. Working at a restaurant in Cape Cod, the Bourdain introduced in โTonyโ is pursuing purpose and prominence, leaning on a deceitful โfake it โtill you make itโ mentality until he has a rude awakening courtesy of the kitchen heat.
Sessa, during his TODAY interview, said he thinks he was โtype-castโ to play Bourdain. Now 23, Sessa was first plucked from boarding school to play opposite Paul Giamatti in the Oscar-nominated movie โThe Holdoversโ in 2023. Until that point, he had never acted on camera.
โAt times, especially in high school, I was very kind of outlandish and didnโt really operate with integrity. Thatโs kind of how this character is introduced in the film,โ 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 movieโs release.
You have connections to Bourdainโs 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 didnโt 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 whatโs 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 itโs really symbolic of the film. You canโt force it open, or else itโs 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 Bourdainโs presence?
One hundred percent. He worked at a few different restaurants in Provincetown. One of them that we frequented is called Ciro & Salโs. A lot of the people that worked there, the owner at the time, worked with (Bourdain) when he was there in the โ70s. 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 donโt 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 donโt. How do you reckon with how some people who are going to be watching this see him as a hero?
I donโt 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 itโs not trying to be this pedestal for this person that weโre idolizing. I donโt 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 Iโm at this age where I, and for a lot of young people as well, want to be respected, want status that you havenโt necessarily earned yet. Learning the right way to do that and to actually understand your potential is life-changing.