Sweary first trailer for young Anthony Bourdain biopic

The first trailer for the Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony, has been released giving us a sweary look at the late food icon’s younger years.

Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers breakout, plays 19-year-old Bourdain as he gets his first job in a kitchen in mid-70s Cape Cod.

“I’m actually not a fucking cook, I’m a writer,” the character says as he struggles to find his place in the world of food. The film also stars Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones and Leo Woodall.

Tony comes from Matt Johnson, the Canadian director who received acclaim for 2023’s BlackBerry, his unconventional retelling of the story behind the now discontinued mobile phone. He also recently directed and co-starred in Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie which received positive reviews.

A statement from Bourdain’s estate reads: “We chose to support Tony because it is not a standard biopic and doesn’t attempt to summarise a life. Guided by the vision of director Matt Johnson, the film depicts one transformative summer in 1975 in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It is an interpretation, as that part of Tony’s life will always remain somewhat unknown. We appreciate the portrayal of Tony’s complexity, his intellectual appetite and his conviction – qualities that eventually took him around the globe and endeared him to so many. We hope this film serves as a reminder that every journey has a start, and that audiences see the beginnings of the man who taught us how to be better explorers on our own paths.”

Johnson told Entertainment Weekly that he picked Sessa as he shared many similarities with Bourdain. “[They are] both from Jersey, both sent to private school, but didn’t fit in, both restless and searching,” he said. “I knew if a scene was working when Dom said, ‘Seems right,’ and I knew it wasn’t when he said, ‘Why would I say this?’ More than any movie I’ve ever made, this film was a partnership with an actor. He is in every shot of the movie, and carries the entire story on his hunched shoulders.”

After his performance in The Holdovers, Sessa has been seen in Now You See Me 3 and the Christmas comedy, Oh. What. Fun.

Bourdain’s life has previously been told in 2021 documentary Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain.

The beloved chef, author and TV personality killed himself in 2018 at the age of 61.