Who Is One Battle After Another Star Chase Infiniti?

Chase Infiniti is the breakout star of the new action thriller One Battle After Another. The 25-year-old newcomer plays Willa, the daughter of a washed-up revolutionary, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio.

In One Battle After Another, which is Infiniti’s feature film debut, Willa goes missing after being targeted by a vengeful military leader, prompting her father to reunite with his former radical group to go rescue her.

Infinity secured the role in director Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic after a lengthy audition process that concluded with a chemistry read with DiCaprio, leaving her more than a little starstruck. “I had a period in my high school years where I was obsessed with the movie Catch Me If You Can, and I would watch it all the time,” she told Vanity Fair in August. “So seeing him in real life, it was a crazy full-circle moment.”

Before One Battle After Another, Infiniti, whose real name is Chase Infiniti Payne, previously appeared in the Apple TV+ series Presumed Innocent, starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

Here’s what else you should know about the rising star.

Chase Infiniti knows kickboxing

Infiniti has a background in mixed martial arts, which came in handy for her role in One Battle After Another. Before her film career took off, she was a kickboxing instructor in Chicago. “Kickboxing helped ensure I embody the physicality and intensity of someone like Willa, who is amazing at karate and could handle her own in her fight,” Infiniti told Chicago Reader in September.

Because her character is supposed to be a purple belt, however, Infiniti still spent months training in karate and mixed martial arts to perfect her skills.

She’s a theater kid

Infiniti has spent most of her life on the stage. The Indianapolis-born actor auditioned for her first school musical at just 10 years old and went on to obtain a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theater from Columbia College Chicago in 2022. “I’ve just always wanted to perform,” she said in an interview with The Face in June 2024. “My mom encouraged me to try out for a musical and it was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

She co-founded a K-pop dance group

While in Chicago, Infiniti and her friends formed a K-pop dance group called the Duple Dance Crew. Since 2019, the dance collective has posted several videos on social media in which they perform the dance routines of the some of the biggest names in K-pop music, including Infiniti’s favorite group, ATEEZ.

“What drew me in immediately was how entertaining it was to watch,” Infiniti said. ​“Listening to your favorite songs is fun, but learning the choreography is a whole new experience.”

She appeared in a music video

In August, Infiniti made an appearance in the music video for Tyler, the Creator’s song “Darling, I,” featuring Teezo Touchdown. The actor was in good company, playing one of the rapper’s many love interests alongside Ayo Edibiri, Nia Long, Lauren London, and Willow Smith.

Infiniti has her next roles lined up

The rising star has already secured her next two roles. Infiniti will star in The Handmaid’s Tale sequel The Testaments, based on the dystopian Margaret Atwood novels, which is expected to come out on Hulu in 2026. In the series, she plays Agnes, who was previously known as Hannah. “It’s a side of Gilead that you really don’t see in Handmaid’s Tale,” Infiniti told Vanity Fair.

She has also been cast in the upcoming drama The Julia Set, but the film’s plot is currently under wraps.

She wants to be on Broadway

In addition to her screen career, Infiniti has aspirations of being on Broadway and is more than confident she’ll get there. “Broadway has been the goal since I was a kid,” she said. “I know that this is something I will do. I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but I know it’s going to be something I do.”

But in the meantime, she’ll settle for a movie musical, specifically Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. “If anybody ever makes a movie [of the Broadway show],” she told Vanity Fair, “I need an audition for that. I don’t even need to be cast—I just want an audition.”

Catherine Caruso

Associate Profiles Editor

Catherine Caruso joined the Biography.com staff in August 2024, having previously worked as a freelance journalist for several years. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied English literature. When she’s not working on a new story, you can find her reading, hitting the gym, or watching too much TV.