‘White Lotus’ Star Aimee Lou Wood On Why She Felt “Ugly” & How Michelle Monaghan and Carrie Coon Helped Her Embrace Intimate Scenes

The Actress Opens Up About Feeling “Ugly,” Navigating Intimate Scenes, and Questioning Double Standards in Hollywood

April 9: Aimee Lou Wood, best known for Sex Education, is opening up about her vulnerable yet transformative experience filming Season 3 of HBO’s The White Lotus. In a candid interview with GQ Hype, Wood, who plays Chelsea in the upcoming season, revealed her inner battles with self-image, the emotional weight of being cast, and how her co-stars supported her through moments of insecurity.

Wood shared that showrunner Mike White had to fight to cast her in the role. “Someone told me how much Mike had fought for me,” she recalled. “They said, ‘It had to be you, no matter what HBO said.’”

That praise, however, was quickly twisted by her inner critic. “My little head goes: ‘HBO didn’t want me. And I know why — it’s because I’m ugly. Mike had to say, please let me have the ugly girl.’ That’s what was in my head.”

Despite those feelings, Wood said being surrounded by supportive female co-stars, including Michelle Monaghan and Carrie Coon, helped her find comfort—especially during the filming of explicit scenes. Their shared conversations around the necessity and purpose of intimacy in storytelling offered her a much-needed sense of validation.

“It made me feel so much better,” she said. “On Sex Education, what bothered me wasn’t the scenes themselves — it was that I felt alone in doing them. In the first season, none of the other main cast members had to go to the same extremes I did. That’s what made me feel exposed.”

Wood also addressed how comments about her appearance, particularly her teeth, often overshadow conversations about her craft. While some fans interpret her look as a “symbol of rebellion and freedom,” the focus can be frustrating.

“There’s a limit,” she said. “The whole conversation ends up being about my teeth. I’m not getting to talk about my work. They think it’s a compliment because they’re not criticising, but still — I have to ask, if I were a man, would we be talking about it this much?”

As The White Lotus gears up for its return, Wood’s openness sheds light on the deeper, often unspoken struggles many women face in the entertainment industry — and the strength it takes to reclaim their narrative.