Dominic Sessa On Creativity, Cooking, and Becoming a Young Bourdain in Tony

26:43And then it was all just reacting to that and living it. Yeah. Well, I feel like it's such a great coming-of-age story. And we have both talked about how we admire that it's really, like, self-contained. And like you say, you can kind of impart your own experiences on it. Yeah. So I'm curious what, like, coming-of-age media was really important to you, like books, movies, TV. In high school, I read Huckleberry Finn, and that's always been a book for me that it's, like, something that I think I've referenced in so many of these, like, the holdovers and this movie as well. Like, that character has, you know, for some reason affected me really strongly when I read it in high school.

27:25And a lot of the movies, especially these movies now, are this coming of age and kind of a moment of self-discovery. I think that has been like a main influence for me. Well, you know, you're talking a bit about working with Matt. And we were really curious about his experiences with sort of, you know, letting you guys just go and improv a bit. Can you maybe speak to that? Is that something that you were familiar with, comfortable with? Yeah, because, you know, Matt, really, in the way most of his stuff was done, it's really not scripted and on the fly. And I think he had an opportunity to work that way when we were in the kitchen because we could just have multiple handheld cameras and just kind of fly across the kitchen while people were saying stuff.

28:08And, yeah, we went in there. And there was some lines scripted, but he was basically like, I don't want you to worry about that. You're going to go in. Antonio's going to throw a bunch of dishes at you. You're going to try to wash them. Stavros is going to make fun of you. Leo's gonna laugh at you and do drugs and I want you to just like think about what's going on but don't say anything and that was yeah I mean it was you know intimidating of course but I was really comfortable with these people and even though it doesn't really feel that way in the scenes like I think it was because we were so close as friends and I didn't feel personally offended with like Stavros like you know like calling me like a ball sack or whatever but yeah I just think because they're such close friends of mine it was it was the easiest kind of improv work that we could have done and Matt's like so good at being off camera and just like throwing stuff out like I mean most of the movie if you could see like when I'm standing behind the sink Matt's like under the sink under the sink with the monitor Stavros make fun of make fun of Don Moore like it's like you know it was really really fun that way so that was all improvised all of the insults oh yeah I mean I think they just they just rolled on Stavros for like 20 minutes just berating me and then yeah they got like you know five or six really golden ones okay do you have a favorite of the insults I like when he says Flacco means an acrobatic that jumps from ass to ass

29:47it's like so specific and like yeah the member who's like translating it differently like yeah yeah yeah I like I also like I also like when Leo goes Stavros you look like this and he goes powerful yeah yeah but that's all of them just like you know riffing with each other that's amazing they're really great I believe there really are a lot of good shots of you just like fear in your eyes Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to die. A lot of, like, very silent, but very meaningful action. This guy is going to kill me. Yeah. Yeah. Well, actually, on the subject of the cast, because, like, we were obsessed with the cast, I feel like it was so, that ensemble was so well put together.

30:30Yeah. To a one, like, everyone is doing amazing work, but, like, we felt compelled to talk about Antonio Ben-Durge because he's so iconic. And I did just sort of wonder what his vibe was like on set. It sounds like he was, like, game to sort of be in there, be reactive, do what everyone was doing. But, like, what kind of energy actually was he sort of bringing to that sort of environment? I mean, I feel like it was hard sometimes because he comes in with, like, such a positive energy and, like, ready to go and, like, be happy. And I'm there, like, I got to be pissed off today about something and, like, trying to, like, maintain that.

31:05And it's his, you know, because he just cheers everybody up. Like he was ready to go. And I felt nervous about it because, like you said, like he's an iconic actor. And he's coming into this movie. I'm like a, you know, relatively inexperienced actor. And he's trusting me to like do this together. And I was just nervous that I wasn't going to be good enough for him in a way. But he was so affirming for me and supportive. And I think you really, you need that sometimes from other actors. and he realizes that because it's kind of, I don't know, whether it's unprofessional or whatever. And it's not something that, it just, when you're working on a movie set, like, and you don't know what you're doing or if it's working, nobody's going to come up to you and be like, oh, you're doing great, you're doing great.

31:56It's really the other actors who are there to support you in that way. And he, every time, like every day, would at least find a time in the day to like really affirm that things are working and we're going in the right direction. We've heard Antonio is also quite a wonderful cook. Did you experience anything? Yeah, I was just with him in Malaga. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Normal. Yeah, I was just filming something in Barcelona, and we did some press for this movie, and he cooked me a paella. Oh, my God. That's sick. Yeah, it was amazing. And he showed me his restaurants. He's got like eight restaurants.

32:35Oh, my God. In that one town. It's wild. And a lot of the stuff, like, again, kind of going into it really just raw and Matt throwing me into the situations. Antonio knew and learned how to cook all of the stuff that was meant to be cooked in the movie. Wow, amazing. The lobster thermidor. Wow. Even when he, you know, like, breaking down the striped bass, all that stuff. Making the ketchup and the salt. I would just go in and Matt would be like, okay, Antonio's going to teach you how to make ketchup. And we're going to record it. But it's like those little moments, you know. It's one of my favorite scenes that we shot.

33:16It was just us like making the salt and the ketchup, not really saying anything to each other. I'm curious about your relationship with cooking. Like, are you cooking for yourself? Do you know how to cook? Do you like it? I mean, I know I can make pasta. Totally. I can boil water. Okay. Two important steps. Yeah. I can use an oven. Barely. I can make steaks pretty well. Okay. Yeah. Also, my friend Joe is over there. He makes a really good steak. Okay, Joe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can make pickled eggs is something I've been getting into recently. Okay. Not that difficult to make, but it's more of a patience thing, I would say.

33:57Yeah. That's important, too. Delayed gratification. But, no, I don't think I got – I mean, I didn't really get any better at cooking because of this movie. I guess I learned how to shuck oysters. Yeah. And I got better at washing dishes, maybe. That's a very important part of cooking. Yeah, yeah. No one likes the dishwashing part. No, no. Yeah. I mean, the shucking of the oysters is like, it has sort of a metaphorical kind of arc in this movie, dare I say. Totally. And how hard was it actually to learn how to do that? And did you injure yourself? I, it wasn't, it probably took like 30 minutes to like get a good handle.

34:29Like still even, I'm not, you, like professionals, they're like, Leo is really good. Like him actually flicking those things, he's legitimately doing that. So he got really good at it. Yeah, it's a really important metaphor, I think, in the film in a lot of ways. You know, just the way that Tony begins to just treat things with more care and not so forcibly. And then that's why you can't open an oyster by like shoving the thing. You stab your hand or, yeah, just destroy the thing. And it's like, it's kind of like a sexual thing too. The oyster is a very, you know, sexual symbol. And he's trying to open the oyster for this girl he's trying to sleep with the whole time.

35:09And he fucks it up. It's like, yeah, it just destroys. It's disgusting. You know, it's horrible. So, yeah, I didn't realize, like, how much that was going to return in the film after I watched it. Yeah. There is something interesting to me about the sort of relationship that seems to exist between, like, creative people and cooking a lot of the time. And, like, of course, a lot of great chefs are also cookbook writers, and they're just, like, beautiful authors in general. Bourdain being an example, but there are certainly others. I mean, did you have a, I don't know, any kind of sense of how sort of being skillful in a kitchen could kind of translate to being kind of a creative person?

35:46Or kind of, did you see those sort of skill sets sort of interacting with each other, I guess, in any real way? Yeah, I mean, I think it gives people a set of parameters, I think. And it allows people who I think are maybe have a hard time directing their creativity. Because in a kitchen, like, that's for a lot of these people. I mean, and, you know, Leo, we kind of imagine in the movies like an ex-con, you know. Like, he's had a troubled life. But for a lot of people, the kitchen and working in the kitchen is for the first time in their lives where they have a set, you know, list of rules and responsibilities.

36:24and you have to do things on time and a sense of regimen, you know? Yeah. And I think in that is where a lot of people find a creative side of themselves in food, you know, and it saves people's lives. I think Bourdain is kind of an example of that as well because, you know, he had hard times himself, but I think the kitchen was the one thing that maintained and kept him, you know, in the space that people recognize him. Totally. Yeah. And the idea of like developing a sense of discipline. Yeah. Yeah. That's applicable to anything. Exactly. Yeah. Was there any memorable meal from your time in Provincetown or just when you were shooting the film or the whole cape?

37:06There's a restaurant called Ciro and Sal's. That's I mean, Bourdain used to work there when he was younger and was working in Provincetown. And we ate there like four nights in a row. We were there for doing some promotion stuff for this movie. And yeah, I mean, they love us there. They're so kind. And it's really, it's an Italian restaurant. They have, but even though it's like a pasta place, Matt always orders the veal randomly, which he raves about. The big veal guy. Yeah, he loves the veal. But yeah, I mean, the owners of that, the owner of that place, Larry Luster and his brother, they knew Bourdain.

37:49They worked in that kitchen. with him at the time in the 70s. And he was a main source for Matt, for sure. Matt was spending a lot of time in Provincetown before we started shooting, and that guy gave him so many stories. A lot of it just unusable. You know, like, just crazy stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. I mean, to pivot a little bit, reflecting a bit on your background and certainly your kind of unusual path to becoming a movie star very quickly, You did theater in high school at Deerfield. And I wondered if there were any productions that you were involved with then that you would be interested in revisiting as an adult.

38:31I did this show called Rumors in my senior year. It's a Neil Simon play. And I played this character called Lenny. And that character was really representative of, I guess, how I existed in high school. I was very much trying to be funny all the time. And that's a lot of the work I was doing, especially in theater, was a lot of comedy. And now I think I found myself doing more dramatic stuff. Even in that, I try to find the humor in these people that I'm playing. Because there's a level to that where it's like these people are pathetic. And you have to kind of find the humor in it. And yeah, it's something that I would want to return to something like that.

39:23And I really do want to get on stage. I studied theater in college and I haven't had the opportunity yet to get back to that. It takes a lot of time. It's such a commitment. And you really have to find the right thing. We also read that you were writing plays when you were at Carnegie Mellon. Yeah, we had a lot. We had playwriting class. I did that in high school as well. A lot of like 10-minute plays, 20-minute plays, like little short scenes and stuff. As far as movies go, I don't think I really see myself writing movies and directing movies. But I think I would have an easier time and maybe a more enjoyable time like writing plays and directing plays.

40:06Yeah. You know, something like that. I like working with actors. Yeah. I don't really want to think too much about cameras. A lot of equipment. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. Set design and performance is like, I can handle that. Okay. I mean, growing up, were you going into the city much to see shows? Like, were you having, like, you know? Yeah, I think I was. I mean, my sister was a ballet dancer growing up, and we spent a lot of times coming up here to, like, see New York City Ballet. Oh, that's nice. American ballet theater watching those performances. So I was lucky to be exposed to that when I was young and see a lot of musicals.

40:48I mean, The Lion King, of course. Wow. Four enough. Was like... That's coming of age. Yeah, core memory. Yeah, exactly. Right, like very topical. Phantom of the Opera was like something I was obsessed with when I was like four years old. Oh. Yeah. In a little mask. Yeah, I was like, you know, this is the first movie my... I watched the film for the first time. My grandmother was the first movie I'd seen, I guess. And it changed my life at the time.

41:20The Run-Thru will be back with more from Dominic Sessa.

41:35I'm Vincent Cunningham. I'm Nomi Fry. I'm Alex Schwartz. and we host critics at large from The New Yorker. Each week we pick a starting point. The new novel you can't stop thinking about, the movie everybody's seeing this weekend, and we kind of go galaxy-brand with it. Right, we take the ideas at the center of these things and trace them across history, across mediums, all to get to the bottom of why this particular text is important right now in politics and culture and also in your everyday life. We go highbrow, we go lowbrow, we go everything in between. food culture to meme culture Charlie XCX to Tony Morrison K-pop to the Kennedys from horror movies to heated rivalry from the Oscars to the Met Gala the Golden Bachelor to Wuthering Heights Great Expectations to Desperate Housewives That's what we're talking about over here We're having fun It's Critics at Large from The New Yorker Every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts

42:34Hi, I'm Rebecca Ford And I'm John Ross. And we're the hosts of Little Gold Men, Vanity Fair's podcast for film, TV, and awards lovers. And just because the Oscars are done, for now, doesn't mean we are. Join us every week for coverage of the biggest stories in Hollywood, interviews with today's brightest stars, and so much more. Listen to Little Gold Men every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts.

43:02I'm Jazzy Sapchak. And I'm Shilpa Oskokovic. And we're senior test kitchen editors at Bon Appetit and the hosts of the Bon Appetit Bake Club podcast. Bake Club is Bon Appetit's community of confident, curious bakers. We love to bake. Some might even call the two of us obsessive. And we love to talk about all the hows and whys and what didn't work that come with it. Every month, we publish a recipe on bonappetit.com that introduces a baking concept we think you should know. Then you'll go bake, send us any questions you have. And we'll get together here on the podcast to talk about the recipe. And this month, we're making tiny tomato galettes.

43:37They are these adorable, maybe four-bite little galettes. So cute. Head to BA.com and come and bake along with us. Send us your questions, pictures, and any thoughts to BakeClub at BonAppetit.com or find us on Substack. Join us the first Tuesday of every month as we debrief about our latest bake. Find BA Bake Club wherever you get your podcasts. Happy baking!

44:08Well, okay, between learning Chuck Oysters, I imagine you picked up some sleight of hand when you did Now You See Me, Now You Don't. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Incredible. I love that series. Yeah. I will not stop talking. It's very nostalgic for me as well. Yeah, no, I mean, it came out when we were kids. Yeah, exactly. I'm a bit older than you, but, you know, I think it was quite a moment in the theater. Oh, yeah. I mean, I never— Okay, Marlon. No, I just, I love how much people love this movie. I've never seen it. I've actually, I've talked about it so much, like, over the last year. I feel like it's, I don't know, yeah, there's, like, there's two groups of people.

44:46Like, those who have seen it and love it and those who've never, like, heard of it, you know? But, like, Jesse Eisenberg in the first one was, like, I never connected, really, to superhero movies. But, like, that character, that guy was, like, my superhero. I wanted to be like that. They're vigilantes. Yeah, it's amazing. Like people that fight crime with magic tricks. Did you learn any magic tricks? Yeah, I have like five pretty mediocre card tricks that I learned. Okay. Yeah. Wow. We had magic coaches and everything. We did a lot of the stuff practically, but to recreate it was like, I mean, a lot of the stuff I was doing, it was doing like 20 takes to just get one of them correctly.

45:28Totally. I mean, between chugging an oyster and card tricks, I think you're like pretty set for life. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You've got party tricks. Yeah. New hobbies. You will entertain. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. And I think you've expressed an interest in horror a little bit, or playing a monster in a horror movie, I think is what you said. Are you interested in horror in general, as a genre? Yeah, I love horror. It's kind of the only movies that I really go out of my way to see and go to the movie theater to see. That's been my whole life. I've never been a huge cinephile movie guy. like, oh, I got to see this new movie.

46:05But horror movies have always been, I don't know what that says about my personality or like my attention span, but I need constant like anxiety, stress, you know, happening to like stay in it. So we hear you're living in New York now and that you deliberately chose to be over here. Versus in LA. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I can't stand Los Angeles. I am from LA. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. East Coast, West Coast thing? Or is it like the culture there? Like what about the West North Korea? Honestly, I think there are really beautiful parts of Los Angeles. Like I like the beach. I like, you know, the weather is really nice.

46:48It's mainly the culture. Yeah. Like I, you know, everybody. My gosh, I don't want to be so rude. I will say like there are much more people in L.A. that bother me. in New York. Fair enough. And we can leave it to the imagination with that Canadians and that's totally fine. I think my values and my, just the way I see the world is much more fit for a place like this. Well, what does an ideal day off in New York City look like for you? Well, I'd probably go on a walk with my friend Reese, who lives around the corner from me that I see every single day. And him and I would probably go to like Sophie's, you know, or Josie's right around the corner.

47:39We like to play pool. Fun. And then after that, like get some dinner. Well, Reese doesn't really go out to dinner. He doesn't really eat dinner. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, he doesn't. He really doesn't. We'd probably get a slice of pizza. But yeah, I mean, I just like to walk around a lot. I don't really know. Like whenever I have a day off I kind of just try to walk as far as I possibly can have you done the the tip-to-tip walk oh yeah yeah yeah yeah I walk like I try to walk everywhere yeah I feel like I'm I'm very sort of like ADHD in a way where I have you know the sensory overload of being in New York it's like I'm able to relax in that you know I'm able to like actually think you know it's like it's like It's a form of meditation in a way because you're just tuning everything out and just receiving what's going on around you.

48:35Yeah. And you were – once upon a time, you were an ice hockey player. Yeah, yeah. What is your relationship to ice hockey now? Do you keep up with it? I mean I watch hockey a lot. I wish I could play again. It's just now my schedule is – like I don't really know what my schedule is month to month. and I would love to like commit to like a men's league hockey team or something. Yeah. But I don't know. I kind of have to figure out the best way to do that. I have friends like other actors I've worked with who find the time to like be in a sport. It's just also so hard in New York to like without having a car like getting your hockey bag on the subway.

49:16Please. Yeah, yeah. I don't know. It would definitely be hard. But I love, I mean, even just ice skating, like going on like a frozen lake in the winter and skating. It's like, it's magic. You know, you feel like you're flying. This has been such a sporty year, which has kind of been hell for me. Because of the magic cover, like, you know, basketball. I thought it was in a soccer. I thought it was in a tennis. Basketball, yeah. I wasn't here for the Knicks stuff. I missed out on that. I was in Spain. So I was there when Spain won the World Cup. Oh, wow. Which was insane. Oh, my God. It was awesome.

49:52I remember Joe called me when they won, and he couldn't hear me over, like, the fireworks blowing up, like, 10 feet away from me. He's like, I'm sorry. There's fireworks. Everybody's on the street. I gotta go. Yeah. Are you, like, invested in the World Cup usually or soccer? No, no. I don't give a shit. I could care less. I do not care about soccer. I mean, it was, I'm not going to lie, it was hard to watch the game because of how— That was wrong. It's not the most exciting game until the end. No, no, no. But I think everybody being so excited about it and watching Spain win. And they're so passionate about it.

50:28It was definitely something I will not forget. Yeah. Tell my kids about one day. Totally. Your dad was there. You were like, okay. Yeah, even though the game was in New York. I could have been there too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's so odd. I was going to be there either way. Yeah. Are you a book person? And, like, we like to ask people about their, like, culture diet, what else they kind of are, like, reading, listening to, like, up to. I've been watching a lot of, in the past year, I became obsessed with Danny McBride shows. Yeah. Who is that? He's the guy, he does Eastbound and Down. Okay. He's, like, it's a very, like, bro-y sort of thing.

51:10And I think initially that's how it kind of, I don't know. Like, I didn't know if I was really, like, I'm into stupid humor. for sure. He does the Righteous Gemstones. Yeah, Righteous Gemstones. So funny. Yeah, yeah, but there is like a level of intellect to his comedy and the characters that he builds that is really inspiring. And my friend, I'll credit my friend Reese who turned me on to that. But yeah, I mean, we probably rewatched all of his shows like three times this past year. Oh, that's funny. Yeah, it's amazing. I would love to work with him one day. And he also is like a master at making these really cool, almost, it almost feels like horror movie shots.

51:47in a lot of these shows. Like there's these, you know, like I feel like he could direct and write a really, really good horror movie. Okay, well now we have your next project. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure he's a loyal run-through listener. Let's go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If he's listening. He's watching. Right. You guys play father and son. You both have curly hair. Yeah. Me and casting director. But okay, everyone has a new character. We're all leaving here with new gigs. Yes. Hopefully. Actually, I was like, starting back to Ice Hockey, The fact that it's like suddenly become like such a thing on TV.

52:20How do you feel about that? Like, are you like, this is bastardizing something I care about? Or are you like, I'm glad that more people are into hockey now? I think like hockey players for sure are probably stoked about that. Yeah, they seem it, actually. You know, like, well, yeah, you have like, you know, heated rivalry happened. Off campus. Then U.S. off campus, yeah. I haven't seen that one. It's a beggar. Yeah, and then like USA winning the World Cup. Yes, that was a moment. It's a big year for us. I mean, I think it's cool. Like, it's... Yeah. I think a lot of people... It's the closest you get to, like, gladiator shit.

52:53Sure. In modern day. Yeah. These guys are allowed to go out there, move it 20 miles an hour with knives on their feet. Totally. And then if they want, they can just beat the shit out of each other. It's crazy. And come back five minutes later. No, I would like to do, like, something... Like, a hockey movie. Oh, okay. Like, I'm ready, you know? Yeah. I'm ready to go. Oh, absolutely. No, I don't need a stunt double. It can save them so much money. Oh, my God. This seems like a really financially lucrative opportunity. We've done a lot of planning in this space. Well, I mean, that's fun. That's for us.

53:29Yeah. Awesome. This was amazing. Thank you so much, John. You guys are so kind. Thank you. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed my time with you. Yeah, keep that in.

53:40That's it for the run-through. See you next week. Bye. Bye.

54:14senior test kitchen editors at Bon Appetit and the host of the Bon Appetit Bake Club podcast. Bake Club is Bon Appetit's community of confident, curious bakers. We love to bake. Some might even call the two of us obsessive. And we love to talk about all the hows and whys and what didn't works that come with it. Every month, we publish a recipe on bonappetit.com that introduces a baking concept we think you should know. Then you'll go bake, send us any questions you have. And we'll get together here on the podcast to talk about the recipe. And this month, we're making tiny tomato galettes. They are these adorable, maybe four-bite little galettes.

54:49So cute. Head to BA.com and come and bake along with us. Send us your questions, pictures, and any thoughts to BakeClub at BonAppetit.com or find us on Substack. Join us the first Tuesday of every month as we debrief about our latest bake. Find BA Bake Club wherever you get your podcasts. Happy baking!

55:13I'm Vincent Cunningham. I'm Nomi Fry. I'm Alex Schwartz, and we host Critics at Large from The New Yorker. Each week we pick a starting point. The new novel you can't stop thinking about, the movie everybody's seeing this weekend, and we kind of go galaxy brain with it. Right, we take the ideas at the center of these things and trace them across history, across mediums, all to get to the bottom of why this particular text is important right now in politics and culture and also in your everyday life. We go highbrow, we go lowbrow, we go everything in between. Food culture to meme culture, Charlie XCX to Toni Morrison.

55:49K-pop to the Kennedys. From horror movies to heated rivalry. From the Oscars to the Met Gala. The Golden Bachelor to Wuthering Heights, great expectations to Desperate Housewives. That's what we're talking about over here. We're having fun. It's Critics at Large from The New Yorker. Every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts. The Wired Newsroom is known for award-winning reporting on how technology shapes our world. On Wired's Uncanny Valley, we take that curiosity even further. Each week, journalists from Wired break down the biggest stories in tech while speaking directly with the people building, challenging, and reshaping the future.

56:26Is the AI boom sustainable? How do you protect your privacy in an age of constant surveillance? Uncanny Valley tackles the questions driving today's tech debates and lighting up your group chats. Listen to new episodes every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts.