Chase Infiniti's Journey: From Kickboxing to Emmy Nominee

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By TRH Entertainment Desk

Three years ago, she was teaching kickboxing classes in Chicago. Tonight, she walks the Emmys red carpet as a first-time nominee for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series — up against a two-time winner.

Mumbai, September 15, 2026 — Chase Infiniti arrives at tonight’s 78th Primetime Emmy Awards as one of television’s fastest-rising names, nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Agnes in Hulu’s “The Testaments” — a nomination that caps roughly two years in which the 26-year-old went from unknown theatre graduate to one of the most talked-about new faces in Hollywood.

Born Chase Infiniti Payne on May 1, 2000, in Indianapolis, her unusual name has its own origin story: her parents named her after Nicole Kidman’s character Chase Meridian in “Batman Forever” and Buzz Lightyear’s catchphrase “to infinity and beyond” from “Toy Story.”

Raised in a household her father — a jazz musician and construction company owner — and optometrist mother filled with theatre trips, Infiniti auditioned for her first school musical at age 10.

She went on to play Dragon in “Shrek the Musical” at 15 and the Leading Player in “Pippin” at 17 through Indianapolis’s Summer Stock Stage program, according to Deadline’s interview with the actress, before earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre from Columbia College Chicago in 2022.

Kickboxing Instructor to Screen Actress

Before Hollywood, Infiniti supported herself teaching kickboxing in Chicago — a detail that would later prove strangely prophetic.

She told the Chicago Reader that “kickboxing helped ensure I embody the physicality and intensity” she would eventually need for a very different role. Her professional break came in 2022, just a year after graduating, when she booked a role in Apple TV+’s “Presumed Innocent,” playing the teenage daughter of characters portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Negga.

It was while working on “Presumed Innocent” that Infiniti learned about a mysterious, unnamed project seeking an actress — one she nearly overlooked entirely.

Deadline reported that while sorting through a crowded inbox of audition notices, she noticed an anonymous casting call, submitted a self-tape, and moved on without expecting much.

Vents Magazine’s detailed account of the process describes the audition as a two-page breakfast scene, credited only as “Girl” opposite “Bob” — no context about the film’s identity or director provided.

That anonymous project turned out to be Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another.”

The callback process that followed was intense. Deadline reported Anderson invited Infiniti to a four-day intensive karate training class in Los Angeles as part of the audition process, and once cast, she underwent six months of preparation — karate lessons, MMA training, and weapons practice — plus movie nights with Anderson screening classics including “The Searchers” and “Barry Lyndon” to prepare her for the role.

Infiniti later told the outlet she was “the only beginner in karate” during that training, and that “Paul watched and cast me right after.”

A Feature Film Debut Alongside DiCaprio

“One Battle After Another,” released in 2025, marked Infiniti’s first feature film role — and she was thrown directly into a cast that included Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor.

She played Willa, the daughter of DiCaprio’s washed-up former revolutionary, a character Deadline described as subverting the “damsel in distress” trope in favour of genuine agency: a purple belt in martial arts capable of handling herself.

Infiniti told Deadline the scale of the experience still felt surreal: “You couldn’t have told me three years ago that I would be where I am now, and getting the opportunity to be in the rooms or projects that I’m in with some of the most legendary people in the industry — it’s unbelievable.”

The performance was enough to launch a genuine awards campaign. Variety reported that campaign strategists confirmed Infiniti would compete in the Lead Actress category for the 98th Academy Awards, and she went on to earn nominations for the BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Actress — remarkable recognition for a feature film debut.

From Gilead to the Emmys

Infiniti’s television momentum continued alongside her film breakthrough. She landed a leading role in “The Testaments,” the Hulu sequel series to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” playing Agnes in a production that reunited her with source author Margaret Atwood and star Elisabeth Moss.

The series premiered in April 2026 to critical acclaim, and Infiniti’s performance earned her a Gotham TV Award ahead of the Emmy nomination announced in July.

That nomination arrived with significant historical weight attached.

Infiniti’s rapid ascent hasn’t been confined to acting credits. RUSSH reported she became a Louis Vuitton ambassador as of December 2025, having worn custom looks from the house across numerous red carpet appearances, and attended her first Paris show with the brand for its Autumn/Winter 2026 collection.

She also made her Met Gala debut this year in a custom Thom Browne look. Beyond film and fashion, she’s continued expanding into music-adjacent projects, appearing in Tyler, the Creator’s “Darling, I” music video and, more recently, the K-pop group Ateez’s “Bad” video in June 2026.

With “The Julia Set” — a coming-of-age drama co-starring Corey Mylchreest — already in production and her Emmy nomination marking her first at the ceremony, Infiniti’s trajectory shows no sign of slowing regardless of tonight’s outcome.