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THE LATE AND GREAT Anthony Bourdain is getting the biopic treatment. Titled Tony, The Hollywood Reporter announced that an upcoming biopic centred around the TV presenter and chef’s life will be produced by film studio A24, directed by Matt Johnson (Blackberry), with Todd Bartels and Lou Howe on board as screenwriters.
A prominent figure in the food world, Bourdain authored a hefty bibliography of memoirs, cook books, and comics throughout his life, starred in beloved TV shows (famously, No Reservations), and linked up with the likes of fellow celebrity chef Nigella Lawson and former President Barrack Obama in Vietnam.
As the biopic is in early development (with no release date announced, either), it is still unknown as to which period of Bourdain’s life the film will focus on. Scroll on for everything we know so far about Tony.
Who will play Anthony Bourdain in Tony?
Dominic Sessa is set to play Anthony Bourdain in Tony.
Best known for his debut role in The Holdovers as boarding school student Angus Tully, Sessa is a relative Hollywood newcomer. Sessa, 21, was discovered by The Holdovers’ casting director who gave students at Deerfield Academy (where the film was shot) in Massachusetts a chance to audition.
During awards season earlier this year, Sessa’s role won him the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Breakthrough Performance. Sessa also earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Other than Tony, Sessa is also slated to star in Tow alongside Aussie actor Rose Byrne, as well as Christmas comedy Oh. What. Fun. with Michelle Pfeiffer.
How have Anthony Bourdain’s family, friends, and fans reacted to the biopic?
Fans of Bourdain are, rightly, protective of the late chef’s legacy, pointing out the hours of footage from his own TV shows, which already go into great detail as far as chronicling his life is concerned. Weariness towards the biopic also comes after controversies surrounding the 2021 documentary Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain using an AI-generated voice to mimic Bourdain. Ottavia Bourdain, Bourdain’s widow, tweeted at the time that she never signed off on it, despite director Morgan Neville telling the New Yorker that she and Bourdain’s literary executor would be “cool with that”.
we don’t need an anthony bourdain biopic, we have thousands of hours of footage of him speaking in his own words. not every famous person needs a whole movie about their life.
— maya (@spdersfromarss) August 13, 2024
Not much else is known about the biopic as it’s still in early development, including what period of Bourdain’s life it will focus on. However, fans online have enthusiastically put their hats in the ring for Eric Bogosian (who played Gil Eavis in Succession, a Bernie Sanders-adjacent US senator) to play an older Bourdain if Dominic Sessa is only set to play the younger.
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