On December 4, the IndieWire Honors Winter 2025 ceremony will celebrate the creators and stars responsible for crafting some of the year’s best films. Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team, IndieWire Honors is a celebration of the filmmakers, artisans, and performers behind films well worth toasting. In the days leading up to the Los Angeles event, IndieWire is showcasing their work with new interviews and tributes from their peers.
Ahead, Ruth Negga recalls the unique mix of qualities that convinced her that her “Presumed Innocent” co-star Chase Infiniti, who is this year’s Breakthrough Award recipient, was destined for great things.
“A tough mind and a tender heart”
It’s as great a design for life as you can get, I think. A noble aspiration, but a challenge to navigate, especially in high seas. It also touches on the conundrum of the artist. How do we remain savvy and self-determining while not losing that strange ability to conduit all sorts of human “stuff?” How do we remain in community and in real collaboration with all the other people and personalities that are in the mix, souped together?
A tough mind and a tender heart is what springs to mind when I think of Chase.
It takes some level of grit and a lot of great to embark on this kind of journey, the one Chase has set her sail to. The kind which generates performances that beam with integrity and authenticity. The kind which stays consistent and disciplined when the hours are long or tough or an experience is discouraging. It takes a particular sort of spirit that remains not only irrepressible but with extra fizz pop in the tank to go ROUND!
A kindness that is both rare and as natural to her as breathing?
Most DEFINITELY!
I remember we went through a period of getting our aura photographs taken and I have one of her on my fridge that I am looking at now. A beautifully serene Chase sits garlanded by white orbs and a halo of light against a backdrop of brilliant blue. She reminds me of the EMPRESS in the Tarot. Completely at ease, in her element, potent and poised, ready. With her talented and tender heart.
