Antonio Banderas was ‘cleaning fish every single day’ while filming Anthony Bourdain biopic

Hollywood starAntonio Banderas relished the experience on the sets of the Anthony Bourdain biopic even though it smelled ldquofishyrdquoRecalling the time Banderas said ldquoWe 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 mdash I was cleaning fish every single dayrdquoSpeaking at the Torino Film Festival Banderas shed new light on the Matt Johnsondirected Tony which reimagines the chefturnedglobetrotter as an aimless young man reports varietycomldquoAfter finishing university Bourdain originally wanted to become a writerrdquo Banderas saidldquoBut almost immediately he began struggling with depression and drug addiction so the film explores the very difficult early years of his liferdquoBanderas plays a Brazilianborn restaurateur who takes the young Tony played by The Holdovers breakout Dominic Sessa under his wingldquoThrough this relationship Tony begins to truly learn how to cookrdquo he said ldquoSo the film is not just about cuisine or culinary techniques itrsquos about his life his identity and his way of being mdash shaped by this unique mentorrdquoWhile the real Bourdain began as a dishwasher at a restaurant run by Provincetown mainstay Ciro Cozzi Banderasrsquo mentor is more of a composite character He described the part as ldquoa man from Brazil who works in the United States and has travelled the worldrdquoldquoMy character studied at the finest institutions graduating from the best gastronomy schools yet he always remained an outsiderrdquo Banderas addedldquoHe created his own restaurant outside the traditional world of elite chefs developing his own dishes with ingredients accessible to ordinary communities mdash simple food for everyday peoplerdquoIndeed Banderas placed great emphasis on mentors while in Turin to accept a lifetime achievement awardldquoI am a theatre actorrdquo he saidldquoCinema came by chance thanks to Pedro Almodoacutevar mdash a lsquochancersquo that led to 130 films but still it was chance Theatre was my first love and for the past seven or eight years Irsquove 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 lifersquos project was always meant to berdquoActor Paul Newman the subject of a 24film retrospective at this yearrsquos Torino Film Festival and whose piercing blue eyes stare out from the festival poster was another formative figure in Banderasrsquo lifeldquoI worked for a year in New York doing a musicalrdquo Banderas recalled reports varietycomldquoOne day I was on stage singing and at a certain point I saw Paul Newman with those eyes staring at me I froze completely mdash 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 YorkrdquoldquoHe had this quirky habit he would always ask for a very specific beer and tell the waiter lsquoIn exactly 2 minutes and 45 seconds please bring me anotherrsquo I still think about thatrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever