Chase Infiniti’s path to a 2026 Emmy nomination started with a self-tape she submitted while filming a different show entirely, and a karate class that convinced Paul Thomas Anderson he’d found his lead.
An Unusual Path to Hollywood
Born in Indianapolis on May 1, 2000, Infiniti was named after Batman Forever’s Chase Meridian and Buzz Lightyear’s “to infinity and beyond,” a fitting origin for someone who’s spent her career doing the unexpected. Raised in a creative-forward household that regularly took her to the theater, she threw herself into choir and theater in high school and joined Indianapolis’ Summer Stock Stage program, starring as Dragon in Shrek the Musical at 15 and the Leading Player in Pippin at 17. She earned a musical theater degree from Columbia College Chicago in 2022 and worked as a kickboxing instructor in Chicago while trying to break into the industry.
The Audition That Became a Career
In 2024, she booked Presumed Innocent, playing the teenage daughter of characters played by Ruth Negga and Jake Gyllenhaal. While working on that series, she learned about the audition for Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another and submitted a self-tape. During her callback, she took part in a karate class Anderson was observing, and despite being the only beginner in the room, he cast her on the spot. Her background in mixed martial arts, it turned out, wasn’t incidental to the role.
One Battle After Another and the Awards Run
In One Battle After Another, Infiniti plays Willa, the daughter of Leonardo DiCaprio’s washed-up former revolutionary, a performance that earned her nominations from BAFTA, the Critics’ Choice Awards, and the Golden Globes, plus a win for Breakthrough Performance from the National Board of Review. That momentum carried directly into television: she now leads The Testaments, Hulu’s Handmaid’s Tale sequel series, and picked up a 2026 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for it, the only acting nomination the show’s first season received.
In the News
Infiniti’s rise from film breakout to Emmy-nominated TV lead was one of the year’s clearest examples of momentum paying off. See how her nomination fits into the rest of the field in our full 2026 Emmy breakouts and snubs roundup.
