Inside Teyana Taylor’s Fearless Transformation Into Perfidia in One Battle After Another
Two decades in the making, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another stormed theaters in September, winning over critics and audiences — and now it’s marching into awards season as a top contender.
Paul Thomas Anderson finally unleashed his long-gestating epic in September, and the thing landed like a thunderclap. Critics love it, audiences are showing up, and awards season is basically rolling out a red carpet under it. At the center of all that heat: Teyana Taylor, who turns Perfidia Beverly Hills into a live wire you cannot shake. I talked with her about why Perfidia makes the choices she does, how that shaped the whole film, and what PTA unlocked on set.
What the movie is actually about
One Battle After Another follows the French 75, a radical crew on a high-stakes run: springing migrants from detention centers and knocking over banks while living by their mantra, "Free Borders. Free Choices. Free from fear." Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) are two of the group's leaders. Then Perfidia gets pregnant. Bob wants her to pull back and build a family. Perfidia chooses the opposite: she leaves Bob and their baby, Willa (Chase Infiniti), and heads straight back into the fight.
Yes, the movie is that good
Anderson spent roughly two decades tinkering with this story, and you can feel that lived-in precision. I almost never hand out a perfect score on first watch; this one made me rethink that policy. The politics are timely without being a lecture, which is only part of why it hits so hard.
The performances that make it sing
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson: a version of DiCaprio we really haven’t seen before.
- Teyana Taylor as Perfidia Beverly Hills: the movie’s fuse and flint; her energy sets the tone the second she shows up.
- Sean Penn: a skin-crawling, ruthless antagonist.
- Benicio Del Toro: the sly comic release valve you’re grateful for.
- Regina King: the film’s heartbeat.
- Chase Infiniti as Willa: the breakout who sneaks up on you and then floors you.
Why Perfidia walks out that door
There’s a moment where Perfidia leaves and does not look back. Taylor told me she personally wouldn’t make that choice, but Perfidia? Different story. In her view, Perfidia refuses to settle, hates the idea of being parked in a stay-at-home lane, and believes the revolution is bigger than her relationship. Taylor also doesn’t smooth Perfidia’s edges: there’s some selfishness in the mix, and a deep-rooted belief that she’s on her own. Once Perfidia accepts that, nothing else gets a vote — not Bob, not even the baby.
"Perfidia needed to fall for Willa to rise."
That line reframes the whole movie. The choices Perfidia makes hurt, and they backfire, but they also clear space for the next generation. By the time we get to Perfidia’s letter to Willa — the questions about changing the world, failing versus succeeding, finding love and happiness — you realize she is asking the things she never got to have, and hoping Willa does.
What the role gave Teyana Taylor
Taylor said playing Perfidia sharpened her refusal to shrink. She’s always been herself, unapologetically, but this character cemented that stance — especially in a world that loves telling confident Black women to sit down and quiet it. Perfidia stands 10 toes down, no apologies, no volume control. Taylor took that with her. Her takeaway: ignore the noise, don’t let it reduce you, and don’t let it rewrite what you stand for.
Building Perfidia on set with PTA
The behind-the-scenes stuff here is catnip. Anderson ran a loose, collaborative set; Taylor calls his approach a kind of gentle command that invites you to be fearless. When she feels safe, she turns into a warrior — her words — the actor who goes full tilt until the director says stop. PTA’s philosophy that 80% of directing is casting wasn’t just talk; he picked this ensemble, gave them a playground, and trusted them to explore. That trust fed right back into the work. He wasn’t barking orders from a monitor — he was in the trenches with them, which made everyone push harder. Show up, be present, and the magic follows. You can feel that baked into the scenes.
Bottom line
One Battle After Another is in theaters now, riding strong word of mouth into awards season. However this shakes out with nominations, Teyana Taylor’s performance is going to be one of the names you keep hearing.