Show Notes
Matt Johnson & Dominic Sessa Break Down TONY & Their Most Iconic Scenes
The director and star of TONY sit down to talk building the film from Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, shooting on location in Provincetown, and the "layered heads" technique that makes every Matt Johnson movie feel so immersive. Plus, they break down scenes from BlackBerry and The Holdovers, and dig into the throughline of delusional ambition running through Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie.
TONY is out now in theaters, go see it.
Chapters: 0:00 – Cold Open 0:29 – intro 1:24 – Pulling scenes from Kitchen Confidential 2:08 – Getting the real stories from Larry Luster 2:54 – Best restaurant in Provincetown 3:15 – Writing dialogue only after casting the actor 3:38 – The line that defines the movie 4:42 – Matt's "next to Dom's feet" directing style 5:31 – Letting actors run long takes without cutting 6:07 – Why Matt’s movies feel so immersive 6:50 – The "layered heads" technique explained 8:22 – Leo Woodall becoming a Boston guy 9:05 – The punch scene with Antonio Banderas 9:42 – Most P-Town thing that happened off-camera 11:06 – The Yellow Deli 12:04 – Learning the real New England seafood culture 12:42 – Getting drunk, karaoke at the Colony Tap 14:07 – BlackBerry scene: "Where the vampires hang out" 16:23 – Casting Glenn Howerton and his ability to rage 17:23 – Making 1975 Provincetown feel lived-in 18:52 – The Nirvanna the Band The Show fireworks scene 20:10 – The Holdovers 20:56 – Alexander Payne's "90% of the role" theory 22:33 – "I make movies with people I like" 24:10 – The throughline of delusional ambition (BlackBerry, Nirvanna, TONY) 25:32 – Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie 26:23 – Matt hiding inside his own films / "The joke is on you" 27:08 – Go see TONY in theaters
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