Dominic Sessa

Dominic Sessa (born 2002) is an American actor. He made his film debut in Alexander Payne's coming-of-age film The Holdovers (2023), portraying troubled teenager Angus Tully. His performance won him the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer in addition to a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Early life and education
Sessa was born in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and he was raised in the South Jersey communities of Egg Harbor Township and Ocean City. Sessa's mother is a teacher and his father died when he was 14. Sessa attended Alder Avenue Middle School. From tenth grade he went to Deerfield Academy, a preparatory high school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, as a financial aid student. He was active in the school's theater program, acting in the plays Antigone and Rumors and directing an excerpt from No Exit.

Sessa is a student at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama.

Career
In 2021, Sessa was discovered by casting director Susan Shopmaker, who offered Deerfield Academy students a chance to audition for the Alexander Payne-directed film The Holdovers since the film was using the academy as a shooting location. Sessa was selected among twelve students who auditioned for the role. In September 2023, Sessa was listed as one of Variety's "10 Actors to Watch for 2023". Sessa's performance in the film earned him several accolades, including the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer, the Independent Spirit Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. About Sessa, Payne said: "He is a remarkably talented young actor ... (he) instinctively understood how to access his own life experience for an emotionally intelligent performance ... He also possessed a face I wanted to see healed by the story the movie was to tell."

He will next appear in Tow, directed by Stephanie Laing and starring Rose Byrne. Sessa is also set to co-star in Oh. What. Fun., a Christmas movie directed by Michael Showalter. He is also set to appear in Now You See Me 3.