A biopic on the life of Anthony Bourdain is in the works, with breakout actor Dominic Sessa in talks to star as the late chef.

Sessa, 21, who won over international audiences as the lead in Alexander Payne’s Oscar-winning dramedy The Holdovers in 2023, will portray the beloved writer and foodie in an upcoming A24 and Star Thrower Entertainment feature film called Tony.

Canadian filmmaker Matthew Johnson, director of Blackberry, is set to direct the biopic from a script written by Todd Bartels and Lou Howe, according to Deadline.

Bourdain, whose mother was a secular Jew, took his own life in 2018. He came to prominence in 2000 with the publication of his memoir Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly which, in Bourdain’s now-trademark acerbic voice, offered an unfiltered look into New York City’s high-end restaurant kitchens. He wrote several more works of non-fiction before launching his career as the host of his own travel TV shows, including ‘A Cook’s Tour’ (2002-2003), ‘No Reservations’ (2005-2012), ‘The Layover’ (2011-2013), and ‘Parts Unknown’ (2013-2018).

Bourdain visited Israel in a 2013 episode of ‘Parts Unknown’, calling it “the most contentious piece of real estate in the world” and using the experience to better understand his own Jewish heritage. “I’ve never been in a synagogue. I don’t believe in a higher power,” he told viewers. “But that doesn’t make me any less Jewish, I don’t think.”

Following his death, Bourdain was the subject of the 2021 documentary Roadrunner, which explores his complicated life and sudden passing through those who knew him.