‘White Lotus’ Star Aimee Lou Wood On Why She Felt “Ugly” & How Michelle Monaghan & Carrie Coon Help Her Feel Comfortable With Sex Scenes

Aimee Lou Wood is looking back at her time filming The White Lotus and making some revelations about feeling “ugly” and how her female co-stars helped her feel comfortable with the intimate scenes.

Wood played Chelsea in the third season of the HBO anthology series and, in a new interview, noted that show creator Mike White had to fight to cast her.

“Someone told me how much Mike had fought for me,” she told GQ Hype. “They said ‘it had to be you, no matter what HBO said.’”

Although Wood understood that the comment was “from the nicest place,” her inner thoughts went elsewhere.

“My little head goes: ‘HBO didn’t want me. And I know why HBO didn’t want me, it’s because I’m ugly. Mike had to say ‘Please let me have the ugly girl!’” she said. “That was the thing that was in my head.”

Being cast on a show with more experienced actors also helped Wood when it came time to film the sex scenes. The Sex Education alum said she was put at ease after talking to her co-stars Michelle Monaghan and Carrie Coon about the explicit scenes and whether they made sense for her character.

“It made me feel so much better because what bothered me about Sex Ed, that I’m only just realising, is not what I did, it’s the fact that I felt like I was the only one,” she explained. “In the first season no one else in the main cast actually went to the extremes I went to and so I think that’s what made me feel exposed.”

Wood also touched on her physical appearance, creating a distraction from talking about her work. Viewers discovering her as an actress have commented on her teeth throughout the season, making Wood question if the same amount of attention would’ve been given to that aspect if she were a man.

“It makes me really happy that it’s symbolising rebellion and freedom, but there’s a limit,” she said. “The whole conversation is just about my teeth, and it makes me a bit sad because I’m not getting to talk about my work. They think it’s nice because they’re not criticising.” She pauses for a moment, “And, I have to go there… I don’t know if it was a man would we be talking about it this much? It’s still going on about a woman’s appearance.”