How Indianapolis theater roots helped Chase Infiniti land the breakout role in 'One Battle After Another'

During his acceptance speech for Best Picture at the Oscars this year, the director Paul Thomas Anderson praised the star of his film “One Battle After Another.” “Chase, my American girl, Chase, you are the heart of this movie,” he said.

But before the star-studded movie swept awards shows, including winning six Academy Awards this month, Chase Infiniti was crafting her performances on stages throughout Indianapolis. A graduate of North Central High School, the 25-year-old Infiniti performed in school shows and local productions with Summer Stock Stage.

She went on to attend Columbia College in Chicago, but continued to travel back to Indianapolis and to perform with her home theater group, including in the 2021 production of Godspell. Before that, she performed in shows with Summer Stock Stage, including “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Shrek” in 2016, “Pippin” in 2017, “Urinetown” and “The Secret Garden” in 2018, and “Violet” in 2019. 

Summer Stock Stage’s founder and artistic director, Emily Ristine Holloway, said while Indianapolis may not have the funding or notoriety for the arts like other cities, Infiniti’s success proves how much the local arts can inspire talented young performers. 

"People need to realize, like, there are very high-level arts and artists here. It's just that we don't have the money around it,” she said. “You have to seek it out a little bit more here.” 
 

Infiniti said she was raised in a creative home and credited her dad, Keith, for her early exposure to the arts. Keith, who runs a construction company in Indianapolis, was previously a drummer in a jazz band. 

"... I grew up with music constantly playing at home,” Infiniti said in an interview last year. “I was always singing and putting on shows for my parents.” 

“One Battle After Another” was Infiniti’s first feature film. At the Oscars this year, Infiniti presented the newest award category: casting. During her speech, she thanked casting director Cassandra Kulukundis, who had spent years searching for the perfect actress to play Willa. 

“She saw something in me that I didn’t even know was there,” Infiniti said. “Her belief in me helped me believe in myself.” 

Infiniti joins a growing list of Summer Stock Stage alumni finding main stage success — including productions like “Hamilton” and “Stranger Things.” Ristine Holloway said that while catapults to fame like this don’t happen very often, Infiniti was “made to handle this.” 

“She is just very, very authentically herself. She is not a show-off. She works so hard,” Ristine Holloway said.

“It's just impossible to say anything bad about somebody who has the level of integrity and heart and the work ethic that Chase does.”

Farrah Anderson is an investigative health reporter with WFYI and Side Effects Public Media. You can follow her on X at @farrahsoa or by email at fanderson@wfyi.org