Antonio Banderas Spills About A24 Anthony Bourdain Biopic

Work stunk on the Anthony Bourdain biopic — and Antonio Banderas relished the experience.

“We spent a month and a half filming in Cape Cod and Newport, constantly surrounded by the smell of fish,” he laughed. “Every time I came back to the hotel, I had to shower because I absolutely reeked — I was cleaning fish every single day!”

Speaking at the Torino Film Festival, Banderas shed new light on the Matt Johnson-directed, A24-produced “Tony,” which reimagines the chef-turned-globetrotter as an aimless young man.

“After finishing university, [Bourdain] originally wanted to become a writer,” Banderas said. “But almost immediately, he began struggling with depression and drug addiction, so the film explores the very difficult early years of his life.”

Banderas plays a Brazilian-born restaurateur who takes the young Tony — played by “The Holdovers” breakout Dominic Sessa — under his wing. “Through this relationship, Tony begins to truly learn how to cook,” he said. “So the film is not just about cuisine or culinary techniques; it’s about his life, his identity, and his way of being — shaped by this unique mentor.”

While the real Bourdain began as a dishwasher at a restaurant run by Provincetown mainstay Ciro Cozzi, Banderas’ mentor is more of a composite character. He described the part as “a man from Brazil who works in the United States and has travelled the world.”

“My character studied at the finest institutions, graduating from the best gastronomy schools, yet he always remained an outsider,” Banderas added. “He created his own restaurant outside the traditional world of elite chefs, developing his own dishes with ingredients accessible to ordinary communities — simple food for everyday people.”

Indeed, Banderas placed great…