Hollywood star Antonio Banderas enjoyed his time on the sets of the “Anthony Bourdain” biopic, despite the “fishy” odors surrounding him.
Reflecting on the experience, Banderas mentioned, “We spent a month and a half filming in Cape Cod and Newport, constantly surrounded by the smell of fish. Every time I came back to the hotel, I had to shower because I absolutely reeked — I was cleaning fish every single day!”
At the Torino Film Festival, Banderas shared insights about the film “Tony,” directed by Matt Johnson, which reimagines the life of the renowned chef and globetrotter Bourdain as an aimless young man.
“He originally wanted to become a writer after finishing university,” Banderas explained. “But almost immediately, he began struggling with depression and drug addiction, so the film explores the very difficult early years of his life.”
In the film, Banderas portrays a Brazilian-born restaurateur who mentors the young Tony, played by breakout star Dominic Sessa from “The Holdovers.”
“Through this relationship, Tony begins to truly learn how to cook,” Banderas added. “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 started his journey washing dishes at a restaurant run by Ciro Cozzi in Provincetown, Banderas’ character is a composite figure. He described this mentor 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 continued. “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.”
During his time in Turin to accept a lifetime achievement award, Banderas emphasized the importance of mentors in his life.
“I am a theater actor,” he stated. “Cinema came by chance, thanks to Pedro Almodóvar — a ‘chance’ that led to 130 films, but still, it was chance. Theater was my first love, and for the past seven or eight years, I’ve returned to my home in Malaga and to my true home on the stage. My life has changed, and now I am finally doing what my life’s project was always meant to be.”
He also reminisced about actor Paul Newman, whose work is celebrated in a 24-film retrospective at this year’s Torino Film Festival. “I worked for a year in New York doing a musical,” Banderas recalled. “One day I was on stage, singing, and at a certain point, I saw Paul Newman with those eyes staring at me. I froze completely — it was incredibly powerful. We made a couple of films together, and I worked with his wife, Joanne Woodward, in ‘Philadelphia.’ He liked me, so we often went out to dinner in New York.”
Banderas fondly remembered Newman’s quirky habit: “He would always ask for a very specific beer and tell the waiter, ‘In exactly 2 minutes and 45 seconds, please bring me another!’ I still think about that.”