Chase Infiniti: From Indianapolis Theater to One Battle After Another and The Testaments

Introduction

Have you seen the young actress who holds her own beside Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another? Chase Infiniti’s path to that role began far from a film set, with stage shows, dance, and a love of acting.

Chase Infiniti is an American actress from Indianapolis. She first reached TV viewers in Presumed Innocent, then made her film debut in a major Paul Thomas Anderson movie. Her next lead role, in The Testaments, put her at the heart of a new chapter in a well-known TV world.

In this story, you will learn how her family helped shape her love of art, what she learned in Chicago, and why her early roles stand out. Let’s start with the person behind those bold screen parts.

Who Is Chase Infiniti?

Chase Infiniti is an American film and TV actress best known for playing Jaden Sabich in the 2024 Apple TV drama Presumed Innocent, Willa in the 2025 film One Battle After Another, and Agnes in the 2026 Hulu series The Testaments. The Indianapolis native trained in musical theater before her screen career took off.

Her full name is Chase Infiniti Payne, though she works under her first and middle names. Her parents drew those names from two movies they liked: Batman Forever and Toy Story. She has said that the unusual name grew into a source of drive for her work.

Her rise was fast, but it was not a leap with no groundwork. She spent years learning how to sing, dance, act, and read a scene. That stage base still shapes the care she brings to each new role.

A Childhood Shaped by Theater and Music

Chase Infiniti grew up in Indianapolis in a home where music and live shows were part of family life. Her mother took her to plays and musicals, giving her a close view of what actors could do onstage.

Shows such as Hairspray and Grease left a mark. They made a career in performance feel real, not like some far-off dream. Watching Zendaya on screen also helped her see a place for a young performer who shared parts of her own background.

Those early sparks led to local theater work. She did not start with a big movie role or a famous last name. She first built the habit of showing up, learning lines, and working with other people to tell a story.

How Training in Chicago Opened a New Path

After high school, Chase Infiniti studied musical theater at Columbia College Chicago. The program gave her time to work on voice, movement, and acting as parts of the same craft.

She also found a new kind of work through an on-camera class. Stage acting asks a performer to reach the back of a room. A camera can catch a small look or a quiet pause. Learning that shift helped her find a new way to express a scene.

Her time in Chicago was not only about classes. She took part in dance, stayed close to K-pop culture, and worked as a kickboxing instructor. Those skills became useful in a film role that asked for stamina, speed, and control.

Presumed Innocent Was Her First Major Screen Role

In 2024, Chase Infiniti played Jaden Sabich in Presumed Innocent, an Apple TV crime drama led by Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Negga. Jaden is the daughter of Rusty and Barbara Sabich, a couple whose home life is shaken by a murder case.

The series gave a new actress the chance to act through tense family scenes with two skilled stars. Instead of a loud action part, she had to show fear, doubt, and loyalty as her character tried to cope with a crisis at home.

That work gave her a screen credit viewers could see before her first feature film came out. It also put her in a cast where she could watch how seasoned actors handled long shoots and hard scenes.

The Breakout Role in One Battle After Another

Chase Infiniti’s first feature film brought a far larger test. In One Battle After Another, director Paul Thomas Anderson cast her as Willa, the teen daughter of Bob, a former radical played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Teyana Taylor plays Willa’s mother.

The role places the teen at the center of danger linked to her parents’ past. Yet Willa is not just a child in need of rescue. She is sharp, wary, brave, and eager to make her own choices. That mix gives the story much of its heart.

Winning the part was no quick task. She went through months of auditions and screen tests, some with DiCaprio. She also trained in martial arts to make the action feel true. Her past work in dance and kickboxing helped, but she still had to learn new moves for the film.

The movie reached theaters in 2025. For a performer making her big-screen debut, a leading part in a Paul Thomas Anderson film was a major change in scale. It showed how well she could carry quiet emotion and physical action in the same story.

Why The Testaments Marked a Different Challenge

In 2026, Chase Infiniti took on Agnes in The Testaments, the Hulu drama drawn from Margaret Atwood’s novel. The show follows girls growing up under the strict rule of Gilead, the world first seen on screen in The Handmaid’s Tale.

Agnes lives within a system that plans nearly every part of a young woman’s future. Her bond with Daisy, played by Lucy Halliday, begins to change how she sees that world. The part needs a more held-back form of strength than Willa’s quick and open defiance.

Working with young castmates also changed the feel of the job. She had already learned from veteran film stars, but here she was one of the faces leading the series. The shift gave her room to help set a kind and focused tone on set.

The first season ran in 2026, and Disney announced a second season in May of that year. That made Agnes an ongoing role rather than a single short turn in a new drama.

Her Style Goes Beyond One Kind of Character

Chase Infiniti’s three key roles already show range. Jaden faces a family crisis. Willa fights for her own voice in a fast-paced story. Agnes has to weigh each word in a place where a wrong move can bring harm.

What links those parts is the way she listens on screen. A pause, a glance, or a small shift in posture can tell viewers what her character feels before she speaks. That kind of detail fits both close TV shots and big film scenes.

Her stage roots matter as well. Dance helped her learn timing and body control, while musical theater taught her how to act within a group. She has said she still loves the stage, even as her screen work grows.

Awards Attention and a Career Taking Shape

Chase Infiniti’s performance in One Battle After Another brought a 2026 Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a motion picture musical or comedy. She was also named among the first-time acting nominees at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards.

Those honors do not tell the full story of a career, but they show that her work reached far beyond a first wave of fans. The film itself won major prizes, while her own part drew notice for its energy and emotional weight.

She has kept a clear link to her early interests in dance, theater, and character work. Her next choices will matter more than any one prize. So far, her roles suggest a performer who wants to learn rather than stay in one lane.

What Her Own Words Tell Us

In an interview, Chase Infiniti spoke with ELLE, she spoke about the meaning she now sees in her stage name. What once led to jokes became a reminder to keep growing and not set a small limit on her work.

That view fits the steps she has taken. She moved from local stage work to an intense family drama, then to a large action film and a lead TV role. Each part called for a new skill rather than a repeat of the last one.

The official Hulu press page lists her in the central cast of The Testaments and sets out the show’s story. It is a useful way to separate the role she plays from rumors about future projects or private life.

Final Thoughts

It is easy to see a new face in a hit film and assume the success came all at once. In this case, the steps that came first tell a richer story: years around theater, formal training, dance, and patient work on set.

The key to her rise is not only the famous people beside her. It is the care she gives to characters who must make hard choices. From an Indianapolis stage fan to a rising screen lead, Chase Infiniti has begun to build a name through craft as much as attention.

Her story is still at an early stage. That may be the best part: there is room for many more roles that let us see a new side of her.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Created the Series The Testaments?

Bruce Miller created the Hulu drama and serves as its showrunner.

How Many Episodes Are in Season One of The Testaments?

The first season has 10 episodes, according to Hulu’s official series listing.

Was She a BAFTA Rising Star Nominee?

Yes. BAFTA named her among the five nominees for its 2026 Rising Star Award.

Who Plays Aunt Lydia in The Testaments?

Ann Dowd plays Aunt Lydia, a key figure in the school’s harsh rules.

Who Plays Jaden’S Brother in Presumed Innocent?

Kingston Rumi Southwick plays Kyle Sabich in the Apple TV crime series.

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