Chase Infiniti is a young American actor whose career has taken off with remarkable speed. Born Chase Infiniti Payne in Indianapolis on May 5, 2000, she changed her professional surname to “Infiniti” — a name inspired by both the character Chase Meridian from Batman Forever and Buzz Lightyear’s “to infinity and beyond.” She grew up in Indianapolis, the daughter of a construction-company owner father and a stay-at-home mother, with a younger sister. From an early age she gravitated toward performance: at ten she auditioned for a school musical, and by high school she was deeply involved in theater and music programs. After graduating North Central High School in 2018, she went on to study musical theater at Columbia College Chicago, where she graduated in 2022.
Infiniti’s first screen role came in 2024 when she appeared in the Apple TV+ limited series Presumed Innocent, giving her a modest but meaningful introduction into television drama. But everything changed when she was cast as Willa Ferguson in One Battle After Another (2025), written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Willa is the conflicted, vulnerable daughter of a former revolutionary — a character who disappears early in the film, triggering the movie’s spiraling political thriller. It’s Infiniti’s first feature-film appearance, and critics and audiences alike have responded strongly: many describe her performance as a breakout, noting a mix of vulnerability and quiet intensity that helps ground the film’s more explosive, chaotic elements.
Behind the scenes, landing the role was no small feat. After submitting a self-taped audition during her time on Presumed Innocent, she was called back for a chemistry read with her eventual co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio. According to interviews, the casting process included months of preparation — including weapons training, karate instruction, and physical conditioning — before she was finally offered the part. Once on set, she reportedly held her ground among A-list co-stars, even participating in stunts and demanding scenes, all while remaining composed. The result is a performance that many describe as “clear-eyed” and emotionally grounded — a startlingly assured debut for someone so new to film.
What is making Chase Infiniti a subject of serious attention isn’t just her lineage on screen — the daughter of a revolutionary — but how she embodies adolescence caught between idealism and disillusionment. She brings a sense of lived-in teenage confusion and longing, giving weight to a character whose youth might have otherwise been overshadowed by spectacle. Observers suggest that with this role, she’s showing herself as a performer capable of depth, nuance, and quiet ferocity. Some in the industry are already positioning her for awards-season recognition; there’s talk of submitting her name for Best Lead Actress consideration, a rare move for a first-timer. That possibility alone indicates just how strong the reaction has been.
Off screen, she retains a grounded sensibility too. Before acting, she spent time as a kickboxing trainer, and while at Columbia College Chicago she co-founded a K-pop dance crew — an early hint of versatility and creative hunger. She’s expressed ambitions beyond film, even voicing hopes of eventually performing on Broadway or in a musical adaptation. For now, though, she’s embracing the moment with humility, expressing gratitude for the film’s reception and the support of her co-stars. In doing so, she’s embodying a rare kind of emergence: measured, deliberate, but unmistakably powerful.
