See you at the Oscars, girl!
Photo: Eloisa Sanchez/Getty Images
Leonardo DiCaprio may be the star of Paul Thomas Anderson’s new revolutionary-minded epic, One Battle After Another, but Chase Infiniti will be the name on audience members’ minds. The 25-year-old plays DiCaprio’s daughter, Charlene (or sometimes Willa, depending on what passwords you know) — a 16-year-old who becomes entangled in her revolutionary parents’ histories. While DiCaprio is the lead, the story belongs to Infiniti. Vulture critic Alison Willmore described her as having a “clear-eyed, stirring gravitas that belies her age.” The movie tracks Charlene’s growth from a strong-willed teen into a wary, wily, powerful adult. Part of Infiniti’s power is that she’s a near-complete unknown. While the rest of the film is populated with stars, including not only DiCaprio but Teyana Taylor, Sean Penn, Regina Hall, and Benicio del Toro, Infiniti, a newcomer to film, shoulders the brunt of the film’s emotional arc. So, who is she? Below, unlock everything you need to know about the year’s brightest new star.
Chase Infiniti was born Chase Infiniti Payne. She’s since dropped the Payne, but that’s understandable. Raised in Indianapolis by her construction-company-owner father and stay-at-home mom, Infiniti’s first name is a tribute to Nicole Kidman’s character in Batman Forever, Chase Meridian, per The Hollywood Reporter. And her middle name was chosen as a tribute to Buzz Lightyear’s catchphrase in Toy Story: “To infinity, and beyond!” She may not be a nepo baby, but she was a movie star from birth.
Infiniti previously starred on Jake Gyllenhaal’s Emmy-nominated limited series, Presumed Innocent, on Apple TV+. She played Gyllenhaal’s and Ruth Negga’s characters’ daughter in a “deft” performance.”
“What Chase does so well in Presumed Innocent is convey the desperation of a teenage girl realizing her father isn’t a hero but a villain; she gives that coming-of-age experience real heft even as the series’ plotting doesn’t actually do her character any favors,” Vulture critic Roxana Hadadi explains. “Great prep for playing burnout Leo’s daughter, though!”
In a story that should feed various actors in Los Angeles and New York for years to come, Infiniti was truly just cast off her self-tape audition, per Vanity Fair. Anderson told VF he saw “every young woman in the United States and beyond” before casting Infiniti. For her part, when she sent in her audition, she didn’t know about the stars attached to the film or much about Anderson’s work. “I was not familiar with Paul’s work,” she told VF. “But I was like, it sounds cool. I’d love to do something action.” From there, she screen-tested with DiCaprio and scored the role after Anderson watched her in a karate class. “It was me and 20 other students, and I was the only white belt,” she said, per THR. “Everyone else was brown and purple. I was trying my best not to make a fool of myself.” He cast her on the spot after the class.
Well, first there’s the Oscars campaign for the movie she’s currently starring in. But then she’ll get the chance to play yet another huge star’s daughter: Infiniti is the lead in the upcoming Handmaid’s Tale sequel, The Testaments. On that show, she’ll play the daughter of June (Elisabeth Moss), Agnes. “I watched her on Presumed Innocent, and then I saw her read for the part, and then I watched videos of her performing K-pop dances, and then I met her,” showrunner Bruce Miller told THR. “And the fact that she can embody all these different sides of herself totally blew me away.” The show has already wrapped season one and is expected to premiere at some time in 2026. From there, her career could just go beyond infinity.
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