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09/03/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 09/04/2026 06:00

“Tony” – Anthony Bourdain Biopic of Iconic Chef and TV Host

"Tony" - Anthony Bourdain Biopic of Iconic Chef and TV Host

Tony tells the story of Anthony Bourdain's early days in Provincetown, where he first fell in love with cooking. But the iconic chef and TV host's career is about much more than food, says BU College of Communication professor Craig Shepherd, who served as executive producer on some of Bourdain's shows and documentaries. Photo courtesy of A24

Film & TV

Tony, the new Biopic of Iconic Chef and TV Host Anthony Bourdain, Only Scratches the Surface of His Talent, Says COM Professor

Craig Shepherd, who served as executive producer on Bourdain's shows, talks about what made him one of a kind

September 3, 2026
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At its heart, Tony is a coming-of-age movie. A young man struggles to find himself but, with the help of others, gradually evolves toward who he must become. The young man in question just happens to be Anthony Bourdain.

Tony is an origin story for the iconic chef, writer, and TV host, focusing on Bourdain's early days in Provincetown, where he discovered his love for cooking. The film makes no mention of his globetrotting travel shows, No Reservations and Parts Unknown, which would influence a generation of travelers, diners, and cultural critics, or even his bestselling culinary tell-all, Kitchen Confidential. Yet despite director Matt Johnson's modest take on a legendary figure, Tony has lit up the box office and introduced a new generation to Bourdain's legacy.

For those unfamiliar with Bourdain, the film is a primer for the legendary career to come. Craig Shepherd, professor of the practice and chair of the College of Communication film and television department and an executive producer with 25 years of experience working on award-winning series and films, including No Reservations and Parts Unknown, says Bourdain's work has only grown in magnitude since his death in 2018.

"People try to emulate him now, but they don't have the gravitas, they don't have the weight, they don't have the honesty that he had," Shepherd says. "He had an opinion, he had a viewpoint of the world, and he used the table as an entrée to people."

Craig Shepherd, chair of the film and TV department and executive vice president of new business development and affairs for Zero Point Zero Production, the production company behind Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations and Parts Unknown. Photo courtesy of Shepherd

What was it about Bourdain that continues to captivate people?

The young Bourdain that audiences see in Tony, played by Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers), is still finding himself, yet the traits that would ultimately make Bourdain a cultural force are already there. Sessa's Tony is a storyteller with the heart of a rebel and a penchant for romanticizing his subjects, even the oyster shuckers and street-food hawkers. He's also plainspoken and honest-sometimes, to a fault.

Those are the very qualities that would make Bourdain a star in the culinary and entertainment world, says Shepherd, who still serves as executive vice president of new business development and affairs for Zero Point Zero Production, the production company behind Bourdain's shows.

Pulling from his countercultural influences, which ranged from punk rock to gonzo journalism, Bourdain was constantly hunting for authenticity in food, culture, and people, including himself.

"He wasn't polished around the edges, he was raw, he was exposed, he was honest," Shepherd says. "What you saw on camera was what he was like in our offices on a random Monday. There was no television personality; it was just Tony-the good, the bad, and the ugly. It creates a complex portrait of a man, but everyone is like that."

What you saw on camera was what he was like in our offices on a random Monday. There was no television personality; it was just Tony-the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Craig Shepherd

The greasy Provincetown restaurant in Tony epitomizes what Bourdain looked for, and spotlighted, through his work. He ignored the tourist traps, glitz, and glamor of travel in favor of talking with everyday people, using food as an entry point into their lives and the cultural and political forces that surrounded them.

His TV shows evolved from food-based travel programs into something approaching anthropology or journalism-completely upending the idea of what travel programming could do, Shepherd says. In Parts Unknown especially, which saw Bourdain move from the Travel Channel to CNN, the host used his passion for people and relentless pursuit of authenticity to hold open conversations with everyday people on subjects that others would studiously avoid, like the Armenian genocide and the long-festering tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.

Anthony Bourdain shot to fame with his bestselling memoir Kitchen Confidential, which detailed the underbelly of high-end restaurants. But he is best known for his TV shows No Reservations and Parts Unknown. Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP

"He went to places where the idea of him being Jewish or him being a Westerner, those were reasons why [people] should want to kill him, yet he would come into their homes, and they would put out their best china," Shepherd says. "He brought that out in people because they realized there would be an honest conversation.…Whether the cameras were there or not, he was going to have that conversation. We just happened to pick it up [on camera]."

Bourdain's relentless truth-telling made him a hit with all demographics, sometimes to the surprise of his producers. Shepherd recalls his shock upon being told by MTV executives that when the network's primary audience, 13-year-old girls, wasn't watching MTV, they were tuning into Parts Unknown, a travel show hosted by a 50-year-old man.

"I turned to my partners and I'm like, 'This is insane,'" Shepherd says. "But it kind of made sense. He didn't speak down to people. He didn't dumb himself down. He called hypocrisy out to its face, even within himself."

Despite all of Bourdain's swagger and bluster, it was his stubborn, almost romantic faith in people, especially the outcasts, that connected all of his work, according to Shepherd. It's at the center of Tony, where his fictionalized counterpart is discovering himself through brief yet impactful encounters with mentors, newfound friends, and, of course, food.

"He had a wonderful way of introducing you to folks that you don't know but you should," Shepherd says. "He always looked at the world like we're all exactly alike: We all want food, clothing, shelter, love, happiness."

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Boston University published this content on September 03, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 04, 2026 at 12:01 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]