There will be a lot of eyes on A24’s Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony, from Blackberry director Matt Johnson. Today comes confirmation of the first news we heard about it, that The Holdovers rising star Dominic Sessa will play the popular celebrity chef, author, TV show host, and humanitarian. Not only that, but Antonio Banderas will be joining him.
Variety has the news of Sessa and Banderas’ casting in Tony. The film from screenwriters Todd Bartels and Lou Howe is set in 1976 and follows Bourdain’s early career and the life-changing time he spent working as part of kitchen crews in Provincetown, Mass. Bourdain was a popular chef in Manhattan throughout the ’80s and ’90s, but he became an overnight sensation with his bestselling book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, which also became a sitcom starring Bradley Cooper. It was his Travel Channel series No Reservations that introduced him to an even wider audience, capturing his love for life, people, food, and the simple pleasures. Bourdain died by suicide in 2018.
The film has the full cooperation of the Bourdain estate.
It’s unclear what Banderas’ role will be, or what integral figure in Bourdain’s life he will play.
Shooting on Tony begins next month.