The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood responds to comments about her teeth
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The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood likes the fact people are talking about her teeth.
While initially nervous about starring alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest names on HBO’s hit show, the 30-year-old actor is proud of her differences—from her lifestyle to her appearance—noting that they set her apart from her fellow stars.
“These people live in Hollywood,” Wood The Hollywood Reporter. “I live in my little flat in South East London, and I’m so British in my sensibility that I wasn’t sure how to handle being around so many people who are so front-footed and confident.”
She added: “All I ever do is take the p*** out of myself. Even the way (White Lotus fans) are talking about me and my teeth — that I don’t have veneers or Botox — it feels a bit rebellious,” she added.
The British actor has previously spoken about her distinctive teeth and how they have impacted her career. During an interview with Stylist in 2020, she was asked if she felt like her teeth have been a “barrier” when it came to booking roles.
“No, I don’t. It’s completely in my head. It’s a myth I’ve told myself. I had it in my brain that I’m not conventional-looking enough and that’s a mental barrier I’ve had to overcome,” she said.
While her teeth negatively affected her confidence when auditioning for TV roles early in her career, Wood later learned that many fans felt they could relate to her.
“And now, of course, I’m getting hundreds of messages from people going, “Oh my god, you’ve got teeth like mine. Now I go to school and people think I’m cool because I look like ‘Aimee,’” she said. “Instead of it being ‘Bugs Bunny’ or whatever. Because that’s what happened to me.”
And while she doesn’t fully embrace the lifestyle of some of her American peers, the BAFTA-winning actress said they have helped her learn to speak her mind.
“I would be more confident now to talk to a director about an idea I have, or just to make s*** happen,” she continued. “The first thing I did out of drama school was a play, and I remember thinking it was so cool that I was getting paid for it.”
“Then I got Sex Education and thought it was just a fluke; even when it erupted, I figured my success would pass,” Wood added. “It was basically just last week that I woke up and went, ‘What the hell is my life?’”
During her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she gushed about joining the cast of The White Lotus, after Will Sharpe — who directed her 2021 movie The Electrical Life of Louis Wain — was in the program.
“The show was a complete hyperfixation of mine, and it was all I would talk about,” she explained. “And then, on season two, Will Sharpe turned up, and I know him and I thought, ‘Maybe I could be in this?’”
In season three of The White Lotus, Wood plays Chelsea, who is taking a vacation to Thailand with her older boyfriend Rick (played by Walton Goggins). The season follows a slew of guests at a luxury resort in the Southeast Asian country, with the cast also including Carrie Coon, Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb, and Patrick Schwarzenegger.
