The Holdovers, the newest film from director Alexander Payne, relies on great performances from the cast, including Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Payne and the casting director, Susan Shopmaker, saw hundreds of actors for the role of Angus Tully, a student left behind at the winter break, but it came down to a student from one of the school’s being used to film at. Dominic Sessa auditioned a few times for Payne and despite having never made a film before, ended up with the part. Our Awards Editor, Jillian Chilingerian, was lucky enough to speak to Sessa about his work on The Holdovers, working with Giamatti and Randolph, and his first film role.

Jillian Chilingerian: I’m so excited to talk to you because I saw this movie a few months ago. And your performance has just really stuck with me for this year. I can’t wait to dive into all of this. Congratulations on everything. It’s really exciting.
Dominic Sessa: Thank you so much!

Jillian Chilingerian: So first off, I just love the relationship between your character working like opposite of Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. You’re playing this teenager with these kind of emotionally fragile adults. So, how is that stepping into that dynamic?
Dominic Sessa: Yeah, I mean, that’s one of the things that really attracted me to the character. And the story was just like you said, the fact that he’s this younger person, with these older people who have these long life histories with, you know, hardships and serious experiences. But the interesting thing about Angus is just how although he’s young, he has this really acute emotional intelligence, and he has a really good sense of, you know, how he feels about himself and his own concerns for his future. You know, it takes some time to really put forth and share. But he has an understanding of that, and not only for himself, but also for these older characters as well. He has an understanding of Paul’s plight, I guess, and, and feels comfortable telling him telling him these truths and inserting his opinions about his life, and it’s also the support to Da’Vine’s character, Mary, who is, you know, pretty much alone in this environment. And you can imagine, she doesn’t really have a relationship with a lot of these kids, if any of them. So the fact that she’s able to develop this harmonious relationship with this student at Barton is miraculous, in some sense.

Jillian Chilingerian: Yeah, I love that. I mean, I’m only 24, so I kind of relate to that. I grew up around a lot of older people, because I have older siblings, and my parents a little bit older. So I really relate to that of just being around people that are more experienced than you, but having that ability to be empathetic. And I love the emotional intelligence because every time I watch a performance and just consents it in an actor, it’s just like one of my favorite things. Your character is just very confident, which I feel kind of masks the vulnerability and all the things that we find out about him along the way. I love when you’re one on one with character, so kind of sharing that and showing that a little bit before we fully learn the story. So how was that for you?
Dominic Sessa: Yeah, I mean, it’s hard because these characters on a surface level, there’s a lot of things that are, you know, distasteful, unlikable about them, particularly Angus, you’re introduced to this kid, he’s very bombastic and the things he says, he doesn’t really have a great filter. And all those things, so it’s hard to feel bad for him, I guess, especially because he’s in this environment, you know, this really elite privileged school where, especially at the time with the war going on, it’s a privilege for these kids to be in this position, and not have to think about the potential of you know, fighting in a war. So, yeah, that’s really the hard part is with all of that going on, you have to express why this kid should be cared for and felt bad for. And you really have to express that, although he kind of seemingly has all these things at the tip of his fingers, it’s that past, that history that he has that’s holding him back needs to be illustrated really well, even though it’s not explicitly kind of explained everything that went on.

Jillian Chilingerian: Yeah, exactly. And going into that, I always noticed the camerawork, and we get a lot of close ups into those moments. For you, as an actor, it feels very daunting for closeups in those moments. So, I’m kind of curious about that experience with those scenes.
Dominic Sessa: Yeah, I mean, you’re right, you have this giant, almost cyclops camera right next to you, and you’re trying to emote all of these things, this internal dialogue going on it but I really credit Paul and Da’Vine as well because you know, a lot of those moments are happening, especially with those characters. The thing that makes them, in my mind, such masters, such pros at this craft is that they’re able to be there with someone like me hasn’t done this before, and they’re so skillful at achieving these emotions on camera, they bring the skill. A lot of these big time actors nowadays, they won’t come in to be off camera for your shots. But he was there with me every day to help me really just be present and authentically feel those emotions.

Jillian Chilingerian: Wow. You guys have such a great dynamic. I love the sequence of him chasing you and you do the backflip and then the tone just shifts. It’s really fun to watch two actors just to go back to that. And going into that, I’m always curious to with actors of how much on the page was there to kind of guide you into creating this character and how much did you pull and bring into that? So I’m wondering did you have any influences from anything? How was that creating that character?
Dominic Sessa: Yeah, there’s a lot of things in the script that I show you like, I guess the assurance that a lot of these students have in this environment like the kids that are thinking,’ I’m supposed to go to Cornell after this.’ And you see that this kind of the the energy with a lot of these students is they have their lives planned out for them. There’s a certain way that things are going to go and plan out. But Angus, you see with especially when he has these emotional moments where he’s pouring these these truths out to Mr. Hunnam, that he doesn’t have that sense, he doesn’t have an understanding of where he’s gonna go and what’s gonna happen for him in the future. So I think those things in the script really helped me understand what his place was, you know, yes, he’s in the school. Yes, he is at Barton and has this incredible education, but that doesn’t really complete the story for him like it does for a lot of the other students.

Jillian Chilingerian: That’s really cool to hear. Because I feel like usually when you see teenagers on screen, I’m thinking, ‘This just does not feel like authentic.’ But here, I was watching and I was like, ‘Oh, he gets it.’ It just feels natural, and raw and that’s why I was really drawn to your character’s journey in this. I love a good physicality an actor brings to a character. So adding that into your character of he’s not exactly alone, but we’re watching him develop and grow both emotionally and his maturity. I want to know more about that.
Dominic Sessa: I mean, there’s a lot of things. Just the, the way he postures himself, I think, you know, especially in the classroom. You can see in the beginning of the film, there’s a clear distinction between, I guess, my physical presence in the classroom. And then at the end of the film, when we’re when we’re back in the same setting, you can see how he is not only emotionally uplifted but but physically in a lot of ways. And yeah, I think about you know, especially that that running through the hall scene when I’m walking out to the phone and there’s this looseness in the arms and all of these things you see this this carelessness and just you know, frustration really. But then there’s those moments where you’re really connecting with with Paul and Da’Vine as well. And you know, like that moment where me and Da’Vine are sitting outside of the office at the end, and those physical little choices and posturing just it really helps you see the, I guess the parabolic trajectory that this character is taking, physically at least.

Jillian Chilingerian: Yeah. And going into that, I guess it was kind of daunting of like you’re stepping into this role where it’s really you three kind of telling the story so, how was that for you as an actor?
Dominic Sessa: I mean, yeah, I hate to say going up against these other actors, you’re working with them really. But it is, you know, a battle in the sense that you’re trying to bring the best out of each other, and push each other in the scenes. And I felt that I was really able to get to a point where, you know, obviously, Paul and Da’Vine are always giving so much when we’re rolling, but I felt that I was easing myself into a place where I was giving them just as much, you know, and you could feel that by the back end of the shoot, it would just feel different. And, you know, Paul would come up to me and even just say, like, ‘doesn’t it just feels better? You know, like, just after doing it?’ For a few weeks, it just was always getting better. So. And they were just so supportable of it all.

Jillian Chilingerian: I’m assuming you didn’t shoot linear, but at what point of the shoot did you feel really comfortable with Angus and like you really knew this character?
Dominic Sessa: I think probably when we’re in the museum. And that’s kind of a crux moment. You know, though, that the relationship starts to really develop and take off between the two characters. And I think when I’m able to tell him the truth to his face and, and he understands something he already knows, but he’s actually hearing it I think, for the first time that really helped me understand the character and why he was important in the story, you know, what I mean? How he serves how he serves Mr. Hunham in this story as sort of this this truth teller, you know, this eight ball, I guess.

Jillian Chilingerian: I just want to congratulate you again. I just love very character driven stories and the three strong characters, like you mentioned, by the end, they kind of will all relate in some way and this one just has really stuck with me with, these three characters and, specifically your performance. It just was so great.
Dominic Sessa: I’m so glad to hear that. I really appreciate that. I’m really happy you enjoyed the film. And it’s had that impact.

The Holdovers is in theaters now.