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Rebecca Hall Likes Her Roles Like She Likes Her Reality TV: A Little Unhinged

Hall wears a Tom Ford jacket, skirt, and belt; Graff earrings; Gianvito Rossi shoes.

It’s been a busy year for Rebecca Hall. The 44-year-old actor starred opposite Evan Peters in Ryan Murphy’s body horror series, The Beauty; popped up for a guest spot on The Studio; and led Janicza Bravo’s psychological drama The Listeners (now available on Starz), playing a woman driven to madness by a low humming sound that no one else seems to notice. In many ways, Hall was born to perform: Her mother was the opera singer Maria Ewing, and her father was theater director Sir Peter Hall, the founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company. But despite growing up around—and on—the stage, Hall insists she was a quiet kid. For W’s TV portfolio, she discusses her early shyness, her go-to reality shows, and her celebrity crush—other than her husband, Morgan Spector, who chimes in during the interview.

How did The Listeners come into your life?

I was at a point in my career where I was looking for something off the beaten path. My agent said, “There’s this kind of crazy TV thing about a woman who starts to hear a buzzing in her ear and doesn’t know where it is coming from. And it’s being directed by Janicza Bravo.” I was like, “I’m in. Done.” I love Zola, and I got to know Janicza when I was promoting Passing, the film I directed. I instantly fell in love with her, and we became very good friends. It was so thrilling to get to do something with her. She's such a unique director.

How would you describe the show?

It’s about going mad quietly. I’ve done a lot of those roles, but this one was really interesting to me. It’s about losing connection with people and community in modern society, and what that means. After all, we’re all struggling with who gets to define what’s real and what’s true.

How important is costuming when it comes to embodying a character?

It's hugely important. I’m a person who loves clothes, and I love expressing myself through what I decide to wear. I love collaborating with costume designers. In The Listeners, a lot of my costumes were meant to evoke the films of Eric Rohmer: 1960s-style capris, bright colors, and cream shirts. It was girly, but I liked it.

Hall wears a Polo Ralph Lauren tuxedo jacket and shirt; Graff earrings. Morgan Spector wears a Ralph Lauren Purple Label tuxedo jacket and shirt.

Do you watch your husband in The Gilded Age?

Yes, I love it. I actively resent it if Morgan asks me to test him on lines because then the future shows will be spoiled. And if I hear little bits of things, I get mad. I’m like, “What are you talking about? That can’t happen!”

Were you a theatrical child?

No, I was very shy. I sat around and drew people, and I got upset if people spoke to me.

When did that change?

Has it? [Laughs] I am good at talking now, but when I was young there wasn’t much space for it. There were a lot of theatrics in my childhood. I decided to be quiet and observe, which I think was the beginning of my interest in acting. I started acting when I was 9, but it felt like it was years in the making.

Are you more like a dog or a cat?

I'm a cat. Have you seen children’s television? It’s so anti-cat biased. Cats are always selfish and a little obsessed. I love cats.

Who is your celebrity crush, besides Morgan?

Robert Mitchum, specifically in Out of the Past and The Night of the Hunter, which is so disturbing. He was very beautiful, and he had this interesting face. I like interesting, beautiful, manly men. Obviously, I have a type.

Do you and Morgan watch reality TV?

Constantly. For me, it’s relaxation. I never did The Real Housewives for a really long time, and then I did. I went deep, and now I’m grappling with the Beverly Hills ladies from the beginning. We also watch The Great British Bake Off.

Morgan Spector: That was how Rebecca introduced me to British culture.

RH: We were in danger of breaking up over the difference between a biscuit and a cookie.

MS: And then we go into the U.K. version of Love Island. It is so extreme: The music is awful, the colors are awful.

RH: It’s designed to give you a headache.

MS: But people on the show still fall in love. And I’m like, Oh humanity!

Hair by Mustafa Yanaz for L’Oréal Professionnel; Paris at Art + Commerce; Makeup by Sam Visser for YSL Beauty at Art Partner; Manicure by Eri Handa for Dior Le Baume at Home Agency; Set design by Mila Taylor-Young. Produced by Prodn; Production Team: Mitch Baker, Noah Conboy, Steven Dam, Torrance Hall, Parker Hanley, Taryn Kelly, Conor McIntyre, Wesley Torrance, Daniel Weiner, Jasmine Williams; Photo Assistants: Keegan Gay, Jeremy Gould, Carlos Vigil; Digital Technician: Kylie Coutts; Fashion Assistants: Lizzie Bowden, Tori López, Kayla Perno, Sofia Prochilo, Celeste Roh, Tyler VanVranken; Tailor: Lindsay Wright; Hair Assistants: Tiana Amani, Harley Beman, Kazuto Shimomura; Makeup Assistants: Elika Hilata, Juan Jaar, Meghan Nguyen, Yuui Vision; Set Assistant: Kate Atkinson.

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For Grace Gummer, Playing Caroline Kennedy Was an Exercise in Rage and Restraint

Grace Gummer wears a Fendi dress; Tom Ford shoes.

Grace Gummer has become a regular in Ryan Murphy’s universe, appearing in three installments of American Horror Story, from playing the Lizard Girl in Freak Show to a witch in Coven. But Murphy had to personally persuade her to take on her most substantial role yet in his sprawling TV empire: Caroline Kennedy in Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. It’s a part she considered carefully, hoping to honor the woman whose life in the public imagination has been defined by legacy and loss.

Gummer herself is no stranger to American dynasties: She is the daughter of Meryl Streep and is married to Grammy-winning super-producer Mark Ronson. Still, playing Caroline Kennedy required a different kind of scrutiny, one that has already earned her serious awards buzz. For W’s TV portfolio, Gummer, now 40, discusses stepping into the Kennedy world, her theatrical beginnings, and the childhood crush she never outgrew.

How did Love Story come into your life?

I was choosing between Love Story and another project. I got a call from Ryan Murphy being like, "What is this other thing you think you're going to do?" And then he listed all the reasons why I should do [Love Story] and why he wanted me there. So here I am.

In Love Story, you play Caroline Kennedy. Was it challenging to portray someone whom you have been aware of in one way or another?

My job, in playing a real person, is to present my vision of her at that time in her life. I wanted to pay tribute to Caroline, and I hoped that in doing so, I elicited compassion from the audience.

When Caroline loses her brother in the plane crash, you have a remarkable scene, filled with rage and mourning.

The writing was so beautiful because it was giving words to an indescribable feeling. I just really tried to imagine what it must feel like to lose someone you love when you've had so much loss. In those last scenes, it was like waves that keep crashing but just won’t take her down. Caroline is formidable. She shows restraint throughout the show, and then, by the end, I felt allowed to just completely let go.

Were you theatrical as a child?

Very! I was always dressing up in elaborate, insane costumes with my siblings. My older sister would usually be the boss of everyone, so she was the usher, director, and everything else, and I was, like, the dog on a leash in the background. For Halloween, I was always a dead bride, a bride who had died on her wedding day. I don’t know why that spoke to me so much.

What was your first paid acting job?

I was in The House of the Spirits when I was 7, but the first audition that I went in for and booked was a little Off Broadway play called The Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents. I played a catatonic teenager discovering her sexuality. It was the first time I was really proud of myself. I got a little review in The New York Times, and I thought, Okay, I think I can do this.

Gummer wears a Celine jacket; Jean Schlumberger by Tiffany & Co. brooch.

When you were growing up, who was your cinematic crush?

Titanic Leo, forever and always. I had posters. I have met Leo a couple times, and I get nervous thinking about it. Even now, I’m 12 again, crying on the floor, watching that movie on repeat, bowing to him. That was the first performance where I was like, Oh—I’m a girl!

Do you get starstruck?

I get starstruck with musicians mostly. Meeting Beyoncé to me was pretty...yeah.

Do you believe in ghosts?

I've definitely felt ghosts. Where I grew up in Connecticut, we have a little guesthouse that's hundreds of years old. We lived in there as kids for a while while our house was being fixed up, and I felt the presence of nice people there. That's the only time I've ever felt anything. I think everything else is in your mind.

What did you wear for your first red carpet?

The first real red carpet that I was aware of what I was wearing was an Oscars in the '90s. I thought it was really cool to wear sunglasses because that's what everyone was doing. I had really short, curly hair and '90s sunglasses. I was wearing a Mary McFadden stripey, abstract, sparkly long dress, which is, all due respect to her, not what I would choose now. I thought I was a lot cooler than I was.

What are your pet peeves?

I hate when people don't wear any socks on the plane. I hate when they take their shoes off. I hate flip-flops. I hate the sound of flapping flip-flops. I hate it, especially in the airport.

What’s your zodiac sign?

My sign is Taurus. I like being a Taurus. I really, really love my birthday. I’ve always loved the day, May 9. It rings true to me. It feels like who I am. I don’t know, I'm not very good at celebrating myself, but I love that this is one day that everybody can shamelessly love you, and you can shamelessly love yourself. Sometimes I go to the doctor on my birthday to get a checkup. To know that everything's okay and working and you're healthy, what's better than that on your birthday?

Do you think you have a lot of Taurus traits?

People always say that Tauruses are really strong-willed and stubborn, but I don't find myself to be a stubborn, bullish person. I'm stubbornly indecisive, but other than that—being earthy and a homebody, I would say that's very me. I like to stay close to home.

Do you have a go-to karaoke song?

“Criminal,” by Fiona Apple, is a really big one. “Jolene,” by Dolly Parton. “Torn,” Natalie Imbruglia. Sometimes I do “Shallow” to pay tribute to my husband.

Do you duet? No, I do both.

You want to be both Bradley Cooper and Gaga?

Yeah, I want to do it all.

Hair by Mustafa Yanaz for L’Oréal Professionnel; Paris at Art + Commerce; Makeup by Sam Visser for YSL Beauty at Art Partner; Manicure by Eri Handa for Dior Le Baume at Home Agency; Set design by Mila Taylor-Young. Produced by Prodn; Production Team: Mitch Baker, Noah Conboy, Steven Dam, Torrance Hall, Parker Hanley, Taryn Kelly, Conor McIntyre, Wesley Torrance, Daniel Weiner, Jasmine Williams; Photo Assistants: Keegan Gay, Jeremy Gould, Carlos Vigil; Digital Technician: Kylie Coutts; Fashion Assistants: Lizzie Bowden, Tori López, Kayla Perno, Sofia Prochilo, Celeste Roh, Tyler VanVranken; Tailor: Lindsay Wright; Hair Assistants: Tiana Amani, Harley Beman, Kazuto Shimomura; Makeup Assistants: Elika Hilata, Juan Jaar, Meghan Nguyen, Yuui Vision; Set Assistant: Kate Atkinson.

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Rachel Sennott Talks 'I Love LA' and Spinning Life's Chaos Into Comedy Gold

Rachel Sennott wears a Balenciaga dress.

Rachel Sennott has spent the past six years turning 20-something anxiety into a specific comedic currency. There was 2020’s Shiva Baby, in which Sennott—a Connecticut native raised Catholic—played a young Jewish, bisexual woman forced to attend a mourning ceremony with her parents. Then came the comedy-horror Bodies Bodies Bodies, followed by the queer high school rom-com Bottoms, not to mention roles in I Used to Be Funny and HBO’s The Idol. But her crowning achievement thus far is I Love LA, the HBO series she created, wrote, and stars in.

Sennott, now 30, plays Maia, a talent agent scrambling to get her career off the ground when she reconnects with her ex–best friend, the influencer Tallulah, played by Odessa A’zion. Alongside True Whitaker, Jordan Firstman, and Josh Hutcherson, Sennott navigates the hazards of being a 20-something in Los Angeles. The show was such a hit that it was renewed for a second season less than three weeks after its November 2025 premiere. For W’s TV portfolio, Sennott spoke with Editor at Large Lynn Hirschberg about the therapy-like meeting that led to I Love LA, the reality shows she hasn’t gotten around to watching, and the Shrek song that always makes her cry.

Did you always want to create your own series?

I pitched a lot of shows before this one got made. I had a general meeting with HBO scheduled, and my agent said, “Babe, it’s just a meeting. No pressure. Just talk about yourself.” And I was like, "Totally, got it." Then I immediately hard-pitched them three shows. They were like, "Relax. It's all good, we just want to get to know you." So I talked about moving to L.A., feeling lonely, starting a new relationship, and the feelings of my Saturn return—which I've talked about endlessly. It's sort of my Lady Gaga, “one in 100, 99 people,” whatever, Saturn return. It turned into a therapy session. I was wondering what my worth was. I hung up on the Zoom, and my agent called and said, “You sold the show!” I was like, “Which one?” She said, “The thing that you guys talked about!” This was a few days before the writers strike began, and I spent the entire strike looking at a wall going, “What is the show about?” But because of the strike, I couldn’t contact HBO to ask which show they wanted. When the strike ended, I finally knew the answer, and we started working on the pilot.

Is it hard to write for yourself?

Because I'm in the room with everyone, I can always read a line aloud or say it, and it's pretty clear: Oh, she would or wouldn’t say that. Also, we have such an amazing cast. It's been so awesome to see the whole cast blow up in their own ways in the past year. Getting to write really meaty scenes for them and see them in my head now that I've gotten so close to them and I know their voices, it's only helped.

Sennott wears a Dolce & Gabbana dress.

What’s your pet peeve?

I have so many pet peeves. I'm always getting annoyed. People who are consistently late—it's okay to be late every now and then—but 30 minutes late and above…it drives me crazy. I have a friend who's always late. I just lie to them and I'm like, "Reservation's at 5:30." Reservation's at 6:15. They show up at 6:15. I'm like, perfect, dinner!

What makes you cry?

A lot makes me cry. In Shrek, when they play the song “My Beloved Monster.” It’s really sad. “My beloved monster and me/We go everywhere together.” He's searching for love, but he has a hard exterior. It makes me cry every time.

Do you still get starstruck?

I feel starstruck when there's a character from the Internet or someone who I feel like only I know about, like, "Oh, I followed your alt Twitter account for years, and now you moved to L.A., and I know about your breakup with your boyfriend." Someone that I basically form a parasocial relationship with—but not that many people know of—I can get pretty starstruck by. And then I got to have dinner with Michael Patrick King the other night, me and Jordan [Firstman] did, and I was pretty starstruck by him because any other showrunners or people who can give me advice or tell me things that make me feel more normal, I feel starstruck and very lucky to be around.

Were you a big Sex and the City fan?

Yes. Huge. I was trying to be normal, but then halfway through dinner, I was like, “Okay, tell me the tea on the movie when you guys went to Dubai and blah, blah, blah….” He's a dream.

What’s one of your secret skills?

I'm really good at giving back massages. When I was little, my parents got me a reflexology book for Christmas. I was obsessed with how, on your feet, it was a drawing of your kidneys here, and your sinuses are here. I got really into that for a while. So I think I'm pretty good at giving shoulder and foot massages.

Do you have a favorite reality show?

I'm not locked into a reality show right now. In my writers room, everyone is talking about Housewives and Traitors—and I feel it's too late for me [to start watching]. Everyone's in on Traitors and I'm like, "Well, I already know all about the raw pickle moment!" or whatever.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Of course! I stayed at the Chateau Marmont for my 29th birthday, and they upgraded us to the suite on the sixth floor. I went to bed, and then there was a man on top of me. And then he was on the ceiling. I later learned that the sixth floor is haunted.

Are you more like a cat or a dog?

I’m more like a dog. Maybe a little shih tzu? I’m engaged but protective. And fun—I love to chase after a ball.

What’s your zodiac sign?

I'm a Virgo, but I'm actually a Virgo-Libra cusp. I do identify as a Virgo, but I have a Libra stellium and a Scorpio stellium. And I feel like I have some pretty big placements in Libra. My Venus is in Libra. My Mars is in Scorpio, and my Cancer's in moon. I'm emotional and intense, but I'm meant to live and experience. That's where my art comes through. Do you know that song “Clumsy,” by Fergie? I really connect to it. That's how I feel.

Have you had your chart done?

I've had my chart done, and I do my own chart, and I could do yours if you wanted. I've been into this for a long time, and I think it's because I grew up Catholic and I was really religious. And then I felt not un-Catholic—I still believe in something—but I was like, I need a system: astrology, numerology, tarot, anything. I'm always looking for meaning and purpose.

Hair by Mustafa Yanaz for L’Oréal Professionnel; Paris at Art + Commerce; Makeup by Sam Visser for YSL Beauty at Art Partner; Manicure by Eri Handa for Dior Le Baume at Home Agency; Set design by Mila Taylor-Young. Produced by Prodn; Production Team: Mitch Baker, Noah Conboy, Steven Dam, Torrance Hall, Parker Hanley, Taryn Kelly, Conor McIntyre, Wesley Torrance, Daniel Weiner, Jasmine Williams; Photo Assistants: Keegan Gay, Jeremy Gould, Carlos Vigil; Digital Technician: Kylie Coutts; Fashion Assistants: Lizzie Bowden, Tori López, Kayla Perno, Sofia Prochilo, Celeste Roh, Tyler VanVranken; Tailor: Lindsay Wright; Hair Assistants: Tiana Amani, Harley Beman, Kazuto Shimomura; Makeup Assistants: Elika Hilata, Juan Jaar, Meghan Nguyen, Yuui Vision; Set Assistant: Kate Atkinson.

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Jason Bateman on Keeping Viewers Guessing in ‘DTF St. Louis’

Bateman wears a Celine shirt, pants, and belt; stylist's own tie.

After nearly five decades in Hollywood, Jason Bateman continues to surprise audiences. He began as a child actor, found a new generation of fans with Arrested Development, and later revealed a darker register as both star and director of Ozark (for which he won an Emmy) and the recent Netflix thriller Black Rabbit. His latest, DTF St. Louis, places him in the middle of a suburban tangle of sex and suspicion. Bateman plays Clark, a mild-mannered weatherman whose relationship with his best friend’s wife (Linda Cardellini) sets off a chain of increasingly strange consequences. The multilayered series from writer/director Steve Conrad is at once a murder mystery and a character study that explores the indignities of middle age, the fragility of male friendship, and the desperate ways people try to feel alive again. In conversation with W's Editor at Large, Lynn Hirschberg, Bateman discusses how he kept viewers guessing, the role that saved his career, and why fatherhood turned him into a softie.

Did you like playing a weatherman in DTF St. Louis?

I’ve always wondered how they did the weather with that little clicker. As my character says, “These poor guys, they feel a little irrelevant because everyone has a weather app on their phones now.” But I do love weather on TV. The mood on DTF was an interesting thing to try to balance. It’s a murder mystery, so you’re supposed to wonder who did the killing. And however sweet or kind or unassuming my character might be, you have to weave in something a little sketchy to keep the mystery alive. So it was a little bit of a cocktail in every scene.

And you got to ride a recumbent bicycle.

Yeah, that’s his whip, a three-wheeler. He’s not big on four doors. That is not a great look. You're not crushing ass driving one of those things. To be honest, I thought, Is the recumbent bike a little on the nose? We get it. This guy's a dork. But it seemed to work.

You’ve been acting professionally for most of your life. Was there ever a point when you thought of quitting?

Well, when they stop calling, you’re like, Maybe I should try something else. But I don’t know anything else. I started when I was 10, and I am…what am I now? Fifty-seven! So, it’s been a bit. I got past the age where I could learn to do something else, and thank God Arrested Development came along. That put the paddles on my career chest. The guy who ran that show sent me my audition tape a few years ago. I look at it every once in a while. All you can do in an audition is guess what version of that character they’re looking for. And very luckily for me, I guessed right that day.

Bateman wears a Tom Ford shirt, pants, and tie; John Lobb boots.

You seem to have an attraction to unusual material. Both DTF St. Louis and Black Rabbit are pretty dark.

I started on Little House on the Prairie, which was soft and family-oriented, and so maybe, subconsciously or consciously, I was thinking, Let’s try to do stuff that’s the opposite of that. I once played a bad guy in a movie called The Gift, and I asked the director why he wanted me in the film. He said, “People won’t see you coming: You look like nothing could go wrong, and then something does.”

Who was your cinematic crush when you were growing up?

Kristy McNichol. It was Battle of the Network Stars. That's why I'm growing my hair out. I want to get that Kristy McNichol look, the heavy feather on the side.

Where was your first kiss?

My first kiss was in a tree house in first grade. You know the trick where you take the bottom of your shirt, and you bring it up, then you pull it down and it becomes, like, a halter top or whatever? I don't know why I was doing that with her, but I did it, she did it, and then we kissed.

Do you get starstruck?

I do get very starstruck around athletes and musicians. I think that's common with actors, and apparently it works the other way as well, which is lucky for us because then they want to talk to us as much as we want to talk to them. It's one of the few good things about being pseudo-recognizable: If you feel like you want to fan out on somebody, they may cut that short by recognizing you and wanting to ask you a question, so you can skip a few dates and get right into a conversation like peers. I'm not jaded. I refuse to lose that part because then I would be bored at awards shows. And you want to be excited to be there and excited to meet all those people.

It was great when you won the Emmy for Ozark.

I was in kind of a blackout. All I wanted to do on that show was direct it, so to win for that was great.

Which movie or TV show makes you cry?

Ever since I had kids 19 years ago, everything, including commercials, makes me cry—especially if there's a toddler in it. I'm a real softie, but I love watching the recipe of what gets me, or anyone, emotional because it's usually a combination of a performance, writing, music, editing. It's a whole thing that a director has to construct and shape, and it's a pretty cool thing.

Have you ever said you could do something that you didn't know how to do to get a job?

Probably. We're professional liars. That's what we do. It doesn't stop in the audition room.

Do you watch reality shows?

I like this show called Alone, which is a survivor show where people get thrown into the middle of the wilderness. It has got some cinematic elements to it—this moody music, and they’ve got to build their shelter and find food. For someone who's grown up on soundstages, it's pretty impressive to see the discomfort these people can deal with.

Hair by Mustafa Yanaz for L’Oréal Professionnel; Paris at Art + Commerce; Makeup by Sam Visser for YSL Beauty at Art Partner; Manicure by Eri Handa for Dior Le Baume at Home Agency; Set design by Mila Taylor-Young. Produced by Prodn; Production Team: Mitch Baker, Noah Conboy, Steven Dam, Torrance Hall, Parker Hanley, Taryn Kelly, Conor McIntyre, Wesley Torrance, Daniel Weiner, Jasmine Williams; Photo Assistants: Keegan Gay, Jeremy Gould, Carlos Vigil; Digital Technician: Kylie Coutts; Fashion Assistants: Lizzie Bowden, Tori López, Kayla Perno, Sofia Prochilo, Celeste Roh, Tyler VanVranken; Tailor: Lindsay Wright; Hair Assistants: Tiana Amani, Harley Beman, Kazuto Shimomura; Makeup Assistants: Elika Hilata, Juan Jaar, Meghan Nguyen, Yuui Vision; Set Assistant: Kate Atkinson.

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For Chase Infiniti, 'The Testaments' Was a New Kind of Education

Infiniti wears a Louis Vuitton dress.

Chase Infiniti knows she had an unusually charmed introduction to Hollywood. The 26-year-old began her career on the AppleTV series Presumed Innocent, opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Negga, before landing her breakout big-screen role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. The film went on to win six Oscars, including best picture and best director, and cemented Infiniti as one of the most exciting new faces of her generation.

After working with some of the industry’s biggest names—Anderson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina King, and Benicio Del Toro—Infiniti welcomed the chance to perform alongside newcomers her own age in Hulu’s The Testaments, the prequel series to The Handmaid’s Tale, based on Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name. Infiniti plays Agnes, a perfect daughter of Gilead—well-behaved, pious, and unaware of her complicated roots. The role is a long way from One Battle’s Willa, a feisty scion of the revolution. Still, Infiniti found lessons to carry from one project to the next, and wisdom to share with her fellow Gilead Plums, with whom she’ll reunite when the show returns for season 2.

How did The Testaments come into your life?

After I finished One Battle After Another at the end of 2024, I sent in an initial self-tape. I found out they wanted to meet with me for a callback, and then in January of 2025, I booked the role. It wasn’t hard going from Willa in One Battle After Another to Agnes in The Testaments because Agnes has so much love for her friends. That’s one of my favorite parts about her.

What were the Oscars like? One Battle won nearly everything.

It was insane. I'm still processing it, but it was nothing short of a dream. I felt like I was in the most perfect dress [by Louis Vuitton], and it was so special being with the cast and Paul Thomas Anderson. And then the fact that I got to present the award for best casting to Cassandra Kulukundis, our casting director, was so special. That's a moment I will never forget. The whole experience changed my life in so many ways.

Infiniti wears a Louis Vuitton jumpsuit and hat.

Onstage at the Academy Awards, when you all won for best picture, Paul Thomas Anderson singled you out, calling you “my American girl” and “the heart of this movie.”

What’s crazy is that I didn’t hear anything onstage. I just heard him say my name. I was getting text messages after the show, and I was like, “What did he say?” And then I watched it and thought, I love Paul so much.

Did you get any advice from Teyana Taylor on the set of One Battle?

I didn't really get advice from Teyana on set because I didn't film with her, but I did get a lot from Regina [King]. And then also, one of my previous costars, Ruth Negga, who I did Presumed Innocent with—I got a lot of advice from her. She's one of my close and personal friends.

What was the best thing Ruth told you?

Specifically, she’s told me not to be scared. That may sound pretty basic, but what she meant is to not be scared about what you can accomplish on a job. I carried that into The Testaments and tried to pass it along to my costars too, since I was working with a lot of girls my age, which I’ve never done before. I know that I’ve had a privileged entrance into Hollywood, so I wanted to help the other girls whenever I could.

Have you learned any skills from playing Agnes in The Testaments?

“Learned” is a strong term, but I’ve struggled with embroidery and lace making. We all did. I’m at a point now where it’s convincing on camera.

You’re a Taurus, born on May 1. Would you say you’re a typical Taurus?

I always say Tauruses are very stubborn, and I fit that stereotype. They’re also very grounded people, and one with the Earth because it’s an earth sign. They like food and the luxuries of life. I can't deny those things. I love food, and I like nice things.

Hair by Mustafa Yanaz for L’Oréal Professionnel; Paris at Art + Commerce; Makeup by Sam Visser for YSL Beauty at Art Partner; Manicure by Eri Handa for Dior Le Baume at Home Agency; Set design by Mila Taylor-Young. Produced by Prodn; Production Team: Mitch Baker, Noah Conboy, Steven Dam, Torrance Hall, Parker Hanley, Taryn Kelly, Conor McIntyre, Wesley Torrance, Daniel Weiner, Jasmine Williams; Photo Assistants: Keegan Gay, Jeremy Gould, Carlos Vigil; Digital Technician: Kylie Coutts; Fashion Assistants: Lizzie Bowden, Tori López, Kayla Perno, Sofia Prochilo, Celeste Roh, Tyler VanVranken; Tailor: Lindsay Wright; Hair Assistants: Tiana Amani, Harley Beman, Kazuto Shimomura; Makeup Assistants: Elika Hilata, Juan Jaar, Meghan Nguyen, Yuui Vision; Set Assistant: Kate Atkinson.

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