Since the beginning of her career, Cassandra Kulukundis has worked with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, starting as an intern on his debut feature, 1996’s “Hard Eight.” But the visionary auteur’s latest project sent the veteran casting director on her longest search yet.
“ ‘One Battle After Another’ has been rattling around his brain for the entire time I’ve known him,” Kulukundis says. “Around 2017, he sent me some pages to get an idea of this character that he wanted me to start looking for.” Written and directed by Anderson, “One Battle After Another” stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson, an ex-revolutionary who, despite his best days being behind him, must snap back into action when a former nemesis (Sean Penn) comes for him and his daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti).
A collaboration between DiCaprio and Anderson was decades in the making, as the Oscar winner almost starred in 1997’s “Boogie Nights.” The real casting challenge became finding the right Willa.
As the child of two political warriors, Willa needed to be a fighter in her own right. Kulukundis says she went to every karate and martial arts studio she could find to look for talent. Eventually, she got word of Infiniti, a Chicago-based newcomer who had kickboxing experience and had co-founded a K-pop dance crew. She was also a standout performer on last year’s Apple TV+ legal thriller “Presumed Innocent,” acting opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Negga.
Now, with the film’s release, Kulukundis believes “a star is born”—which is likely exciting for the young actor but less so for the CD. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to get Chase in a movie again,” she says. “She’s going to be too famous for me!” (Next up for Infiniti is a lead role on Bruce Miller’s “The Testaments,” the sequel series to “The Handmaid’s Tale.”)
Here, Kulukundis goes into how she cast the film’s main players and gives invaluable advice for auditioning actors.
How did you land on Chase as your Willa?
Everyone knew I was on alert, so I’d get screenshots of people’s TVs [with messages saying] “How about her?” It had been six years, and one of my manager friends sent me [Infiniti’s] K-pop dancing group, and there was something about Chase. She was in school and hadn’t done much, but I got her pages, and she was graceful, yet strong. She moved incredibly well, so I was like, I can teach her martial arts.
We threw a bunch at her. She read with Leo, but there was something Paul wasn’t seeing. So she and I went to a gym, and I had her beat the crap out of a boxing bag; I was telling her to scream and grunt. When I edited it together, I sent it to Paul, and he just wrote back, “Thank you.” She had the best balance of pure innocence and “I will kill you.”
What were you looking for in Willa’s fearless mother, Perfidia, who is played by musician-turned-actor Teyana Taylor?
I cast a wide net to make sure we saw everything in everybody, because this character is a force to be reckoned with and a person who’s going to inform the rest of the movie. We need Perfidia to come out in Willa, even if they don’t physically look the same. Teyana is just a certain force to be reckoned with; no one says or thinks the things that she does.
Teyana seemed to have a really big life, full of stuff that would maybe take her away from us—and when you sign on to a Paul movie, you’re with us until we don’t need you anymore. So that’s why I overdid it by reading tons of people. But when Paul called her, she was like, “I’m here for you, 100%.”
What made Bob the perfect character for Leo to finally take on for Paul?
I do think us hiring his dad [George DiCaprio] for [the role of Mr. Jack, the wig and waterbed salesman in] “Licorice Pizza” was a solid move. [Laughs] Bob took shape once Leo signed on. Leo really understands characters, and he brings so many gradations to people who might be a step behind. Bob is addled from drug use and has gotten lazy, but he’s still this warrior inside. You really see Leo understanding the different emotions and anger.
Outside of Chase, is there a piece of casting that you’re especially proud of?
John Hoogenakker. Tim Smith was such a hard role; he’s the guy that they send to kill Lockjaw [Penn]. Paul was being very detail-oriented on that one. I’ve been asked by everyone, “Where’d you get that guy?” And I laugh because he’s been out there. He was in [2009’s] “Public Enemies” with our costume designer. Acting is not baseball, where you only have so many years in your career, and I like to work with actors who are in it for the long haul.
What advice would you give to auditioning actors?
When actors are like, “I don’t know what they want,” at some point you have to make it the best for you. What is your version of this character? I’m trying to direct an actor to their best version, not some magical version that we see. Because we often think, Oh, this guy’s gonna be like this. And then I start reading people and I’m like, “Wait a second, you’ve gotta meet this guy,” and he’s the exact opposite of what we were initially setting up for.
Keep your information up-to-date and pay attention, because I was trying to search for a bunch of people, and they weren’t getting back to me, so they missed out. I’m not a social media user, but when I’m working on a movie, yeah, I’ve got this fake Instagram and I’ll DM you!
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
This story originally appeared in the October 20 issue of Backstage Magazine.
