‘The Holdovers’ Star Dominic Sessa Reflects on Breakout Role (Exclusive)

From The Holdovers to The Horsemen, Dominic Sessa has come a long way in just a couple of years.

The 23-year-old actor made his breakout role in the aforementioned holiday dramedy alongside Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph in 2023. Earlier this month, he took his second turn on the big screen as magician Bosco Leroy in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, the latest movie in the beloved heist franchise.

At the premiere of the film in New York City on Nov. 10, Sessa told PEOPLE he “can’t not owe everything” to The Holdovers.

“It changed my life,” he said of the Alexander Payne-directed drama. “I mean, I was so blessed to work with Paul and Alexander and just the way that all came about was magical in a way I mean … I got the audition for that in my high school acting class.”

“To be here and doing, you know, all of this now only a couple years later, it’s … I can’t not owe everything to that film,” Sessa added.

Speaking with PEOPLE, the actor, who is also starring as ‘70s-era Anthony Bourdain in the upcoming biopic Tony, also reflected on what it has been like joining the Now You See Me cast three movies in. For the latest installment, Sessa joins the original Horsemen — played by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Isla Fisher — along with fellow franchise newcomers Justice Smith and Ariana Greenblatt.

“I guess we had a bit of nervousness about if we’re going to be accepted and brought into this group because, you know, the original cast is so close and they have such a fun banter with each other,” Sessa told PEOPLE of himself, Smith and Greenblatt.

“But I think they thought that maybe we wouldn’t think they’re cool, but very quickly we realized we all have very similar senses of humor,” he said, adding that “nobody had to change who they were to get along, which is gratifying when you can just be yourself in a group of people.”

As for who made him laugh most on set, Sessa had a hard time conjuring a name.

“That’s tough. It’s stuck between Isla and Woody, but them together? Game over,” he told PEOPLE. “But Woody definitely, yeah, always just finding a new joke or something every scene, making it funny if he can.”

Set at a snowy New England boarding school, The Holdovers follows Professor Paul Hunham (Giamatti) and two fellow lost souls, head cook Mary Lamb (Randolph) and angsty student Angus Tully (Sessa), as they are left behind during the holiday break.

Sessa won an Independent Spirit Award for best breakthrough performance and a Critics’ Choice Movie Award for best young performer for his turn as brooding pupil. Both Giamatti and Randolph won Oscars for their performances in the feel-good flick.

In addition to Tony, Sessa has two more projects in the cards. The actor stars alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Denis Leary and more in the upcoming holiday movie Oh. What. Fun., and will be back on the big screen next year with Tow. The cast of the drama, which is inspired by a true story, includes Rose Byrne and Octavia Spencer.

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Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is in theaters now. The Holdovers is available to rent or buy on digital.