Summary

Collider’s Steve Weintraub chats with Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti for One Battle After Another.

From Paul Thomas Anderson, Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Bob, a father and ex-revolutionary who will stop at nothing to save his kidnapped daughter.

In this interview, the trio discuss their favorite Steven Spielberg movies and deleted scenes.

Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and newcomer Chase Infiniti bring a different kind of power to Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. While Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio del Toro are central to the film’s collision, Hall and Taylor add grit and humanity, while Infiniti steps into the spotlight in her first screen role alongside some of the industry’s most iconic actors. In One Battle After Another, DiCaprio’s Bob finds himself on a desperate mission to save his daughter Willa, portrayed by Infiniti, a journey that collides with Del Toro’s world and ignites a relentless cycle of violence. But it’s the women who shift the film’s energy and raise the stakes: Hall and Taylor’s characters navigate code words, impossible choices, and breathless escapes, while Infiniti delivers a debut performance that cements her as a breakout talent. The movie also stars Sean Penn, Wood Harris, and Alana Haim. Ahead of the film’s premiere, Collider’s Steve Weintraub interviews the trio of women about the action-packed film, where they share their Steven Spielberg favorites, reveal deleted scenes, and discuss how Infiniti is on her “Spielberg shit” in her debut role. You can check out the full conversation in the video above or read the transcript below.
Teyana Taylor Responds to Steven Spielberg’s Praise

The trio also share their favorite Spielberg movie.

Steven Spielberg dons a tux in a red carpet shotImage via Collin Xavier/Abaca Press/INSTARimages

COLLIDER: I really want to say this movie is incredible. I loved all of your work in it. So, you’ve been asked a lot of the same questions. I want to throw a curveball right at the beginning. I’m wearing a Steven Spielberg shirt, and it’s because I’m asking everyone: Do you have a favorite Spielberg movie? TEYANA TAYLOR: That’s a hard one. I mean, every time I turn around, his name is on every single thing. Would you like his more horror stuff? What’s your favorite? REGINA HALL: Jaws just had its anniversary. TAYLOR: Agreed. HALL: I mean, the fact that that’s his first film. He did something before Jaws. HALL: He did? What was it? Was it studio released? It was a smaller… HALL: But that was his first major, right? TAYLOR: What’s it called? Duel.

Steven Spielberg’s TV movie, Duel, turns a tanker truck into a monster.Image via ABC

TAYLOR: His first major release was… Jaws was on another level. HALL: So was Duel like his Hard Eight? Yes, exactly. TAYLOR: Smaller thing. But do you know how goated you got to be for your first film to be Jaws? That kind of reminds me of baby Perfidia right here. Her very first movie is with Leonardo, Sean Penn, PTA as the director? Like, you are on your Steven Spielberg shit right now. This is insane! I am not arguing. Wait, so it’s Jaws? Your favorite? TAYLOR: Yeah. Agreed. CHASE INFINITI: I was actually going to agree, too. TAYLOR: I mean, that’s so goated. He just said our movie is outrageous. He’s had so many great things to say about our movie. That means he knows we exist. Hey, Steven! Give me that shirt when you’re done.
Deleted Scenes and Alternate Cuts for ‘One Battle After Another’

“You know he’s got two versions of this movie.”

[Laughs] 100%. I was at the Q&A on Tuesday night at Warner Bros., and I heard you mention something, which led me to this question. I don’t get to talk to Paul, but I’m fascinated by the editing process, so what possible deleted scenes didn’t make the movie that you were sad to see go? TAYLOR: Oh my god. HALL: There was a lot. TAYLOR: It was a lot. We originally had a different opening. So you see you open to me on Sean, but we had an opening running in on Sean as well. But the most important scene I was really sad about seeing go was Deandra getting to Willa, was Perfidia calling her and telling her, “Go get my baby.” You know what I’m saying? “And run.” Perfidia did what she did, but she definitely gave her that call as a best friend. HALL: It was a code speak. It was after everything. But there were a lot of scenes. But the thing is, Paul shoots so much great stuff that it’s hard. TAYLOR: You know he’s got two versions of this movie. If he wanted to make a whole other movie with deleted scenes, he can. HALL: He really could.
Teyana Taylor Is on Her “Tom Cruise Shit”

Taylor says PTA could have made “two versions” of One Battle After Another.

Teyana Taylor talking on a payphone at night in front of a gas station in One Battle After AnotherImage via Warner Bros.

TAYLOR: You know he’s got two versions of this movie. If he wanted to make a whole other movie with deleted scenes, he can. HALL: He really could. TAYLOR: ‘Cause me jumping over the fence with the gun in my hand, I was on my Tom Cruise shit. You gotta bring that scene back! HALL: You know what? Speaking of Tom Cruise, that was another favorite of mine that Steven Spielberg directed. Minority Report? HALL: Well, I loved Minority Report, but no. The other one. The aliens. Oh my God, I know exactly what you’re talking about. War of the Worlds. HALL: War of the Worlds! I did like War of the Worlds, too, a lot. That was a big film. Sorry. I’ve gotten distracted again. One Battle After Another is now playing in theaters and IMAX.

Release Date

September 26, 2025

Runtime

162 minutes

Director

Paul Thomas Anderson

Writers

Paul Thomas Anderson, Thomas Pynchon

Producers

Adam Somner