‘The White Lotus’ star has something to say to everyone who has made fun of her teeth

The White Lotus and Sex Education star Aimee Lou Wood is giving us life in season 3 of Mike White’s delightfully screwed-up anthology series. Her character Chelsea is a quirky twenty-something trying to muster some optimism in her older, grumpy boyfriend (Walter Goggins). Wood is a fantastic addition with differences that make her unique — and she knows it.

30-year-old Wood told The Hollywood Reporter she was nervous about starring alongside some of Hollywood’s best character actors. “These people live in Holly­wood,” she said. “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.”

However, Wood is used to taking “the p*** out of” herself. She thinks humor is a good coping strategy for nerves about Hollywood ideals, and that refusing to assimilate is rock and roll. Talking about social media season 3 reactions, she added, “the way [The White Lotus fans] are talking about me and my teeth — that I don’t have veneers or Botox — it feels a bit rebellious.” After spending much of her life “worrying about being weird,” Wood now thinks it could be her “superpower.”

The English actor has spoken about her recognizable smile and how her teeth have or haven’t impacted her career, given she hasn’t buckled under the pressure of having work done to ‘fix’ them. In a 2020 Stylist interview, she explained she didn’t feel they had been a “barrier” when booking acting gigs. “It’s completely in my head,” Wood said. “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.”

How Wood worked through insecurity

Wood’s breakout role in Sex Education was primarily where she worked through these anxieties. She received “hundreds” of messages from people who related to her, seeing themselves on screen in her character and feeling more confident as a result.

Though she’s extremely English, Wood admits that some American culture rubbed off on her while shooting in Thailand. “I would be more confident now to talk to a director about an idea I have, or just to make shit happen,” she states. “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. It was basically just last week that I woke up and went, ‘What the hell is my life?’”

Though her casting in The White Lotus was an outside-the-box pick, you’d never think it while watching the episodes. Wood has nailed the slightly delusional but incredibly lovable nature of her character. Chelsea’s quirks (motor mouth, playfully nagging her boyfriend into being a happier person, making a fuss when she doesn’t get her way) solidified her as one of the lighter players in season 3, giving us a break from the much tenser dynamics.

Clearly, those worries about her teeth are in the past. Especially since White included a line early in the season where Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) declares “I love your teeth!” Whether the line is jokingly setting up the next one, “Where are you from?”, or is a genuine celebration of her smile (probably a bit of both), Wood’s cool with it.