Dominic Sessa has officially transformed into the late Anthony Bourdain for A24’s highly anticipated biopic — but the actor had a few roles under his belt before being cast as the famed chef.
“I wasn’t really a big movie person, and I didn’t really watch TV,” Sessa admitted in a November 2025 interview. “I didn’t really have a strong relationship with movies, other than just the stuff that my dad would show me.”
How did he make a career in acting? It was a total accident.
As the story goes, Sessa was attending Deerfield Academy, a boarding school in Massachusetts where the 2023 movie The Holdovers was filmed. Auditions were held among the students, and Sessa nabbed his breakout role as the film’s lead.
Dominic Sessa in ‘The Holdovers.’ Seacia Pavao / © Focus Features /Courtesy Everett Collection
“So many big, impactful things happened to me at a young age that I’m just now starting to think about, and have the willingness and strength to open them up and look at them,” Sessa told i-D magazine in that same November 2025 interview. “I’ve found that writing about these things that happened to me, or telling stories around that sort of thing has been a good way to get into it.”
Keep scrolling for everything to know about Sessa:
Where Is Dominic Sessa From?
Sessa is a New Jersey native, growing up in Cherry Hill along with Egg Harbor Township and Ocean City.
Who Are Dominic Sessa’s Parents?
Sessa was 14 when his dad died in 2017. His mom, meanwhile, is a teacher.
“My dad was a big golfer,” Sessa recalled of his late father in a November 2025 interview. “Growing up, I hated golfing. Now it’s what I do for fun.”
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How Was Dominic Sessa Cast in ‘The Holdovers’?
Sessa’s The Holdovers casting was totally by chance.
“I was like: ‘Wow, this super-accomplished guy is coming to meet me, in the middle of nowhere Massachusetts,’” Sessa told The Guardian of meeting the film’s director, Alexander Payne. “If it had ended with that, I would’ve been as happy as I am now.”
What Other Movies Was Dominic Sessa in?
Aside from The Holdovers, Sessa appeared in 2025’s Now You See Me: Now You Don’t and the holiday movie Oh. What. Fun.
Is Dominic Sessa Playing Anthony Bourdain?
In August 2024, news broke that Sessa was in talks to play the late chef, who died by suicide at age 61. By May 2026, fans got their first look at his portrayal in the biopic, titled Tony.
“It’s a story about a young man who’s f***ing up and figuring it out,” Sessa said in November 2025 of Tony. “That was incredibly relatable to me, and the main reason I wanted to do it.”
Because Sessa played a version of Bourdain before he was famous, the actor had somewhat of an advantage.
“I wasn’t bound to any sort of portrayal of him,” he added. “I tried to forget about the weight of how many people consider this person to be so respected and iconic.”
