Description
There are few things as comforting as food, especially when it’s cooked by the people who know and love us best. Most people only get to eat their family’s signature dishes on holidays, or whenever they’re visiting home. This is not the case in Nonnas, Stephen Chbosky’s heartfelt drama about a Staten Island restaurant only serving food prepared by grandmothers. If you start to feel your stomach growl after watching the trailer above, you’re not the only one.
Nonnas follows Joe (Vince Vaughn), who, after losing his mom and grandmother, turns to their generations-old recipes for solace and direction. With the money from his mom’s insurance and a little help from his friends, he opens Enoteca Maria, an old-school Italian spot that staffs four grandmothers, or “nonnas,” from different cities in Italy, who share their dishes with the neighborhood.
Joe isn’t the only character craving the comfort of his family’s culinary traditions.
He’s joined by Olivia (Linda Cardellini), with whom he reconnects at an Italian market years after standing her up at prom, and his best friend Bruno (Joe Manganiello), both of whom have experienced the power of a meal cooked with love. And although they’re on the other side of the dish, the four nonnas
Roberta (Lorraine Bracco),
Antonella (Brenda Vaccaro), Teresa (Talia Shire),
Gia (Susan Sarandon)
are equally transformed by the restaurant, and the history and potential for rediscovery it presents.
Keep scrolling to meet the all-star cast sitting around the dinner table in Nonnas, and see some first-look photos from the production below.
Who’s in the cast of Nonnas?
Vince Vaughn as Joe
Born and bred in Brooklyn, Joe is stuck in a dead-end job at the MTA. After the loss of his nonna and mother, Joe turns to what has brought him comfort his whole life: Italian dishes homecooked by family, shared by many. With his mom’s insurance money, he opens Enoteca Maria — a restaurant in Staten Island serving food cooked by four nonnas — and finds a way to stay connected to the people he’s lost, rediscovering himself in the process.
Linda Cardellini as Olivia
Olivia has known Joe since high school, when the two shared a disastrous prom night. Now a first-year law student living in Staten Island, Olivia recruits Antonella, one of Enoteca Maria’s nonnas-turned-professional chefs, and helps Joe with the legal side of his restaurant. No stranger to the healing salve of a nonna’s cooking, Olivia reminds Joe and the nonnas that it’s never too late to start over.
Scooby-Doo, Brokeback Mountain
Lorraine Bracco as Roberta
Joe’s mom’s best friend of 60 years, Roberta is the first nonna to agree to cook at Enoteca Maria. A proud Sicilian, she holds strong opinions about Italian food, including her generations-old recipe for capuzzelle, and isn’t afraid to share them — especially with fellow chef Antonella, who hails from a different part of the country. Working at Enoteca Maria, however, brings out Roberta’s softer, more flexible side.
Brenda Vaccaro as Antonella
A longtime frequenter of Staten Island’s Italian market and devoted neighbor to Olivia, Antonella is as feisty about her Bolognian roots as she is loyal to the people she loves. When she joins Enoteca Maria as the second chef, the widowed Antonella realizes she has a lot more life to live.
Capricorn One, Midnight Cowboy
Talia Shire as Teresa
A former nun, Teresa is the diligent, quiet counterpart to Roberta and Antonella’s larger-than-life rivalry. Don’t let her timid demeanor fool you, however: Teresa claims a storied romantic history that the other nonnas help her process.
Rocky, The Godfather
Susan Sarandon as Gia
Gia is the last nonna to come aboard to Enoteca Maria, as the restaurant’s pastry chef. Joe’s mom’s lifelong friend and hairdresser, Gia owns and operates her own hair salon. In addition to offering her baking skills, Gia reinvigorates and inspires the other nonnas with a refreshing approach to aging, beauty, and visibility.
FRA 
ENG
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