Aimee Lou Wood Gets Her Life Beyond The White Lotus

The way Aimee Lou Wood sees it, everything is written in the stars. Like millions of viewers, she was obsessed with the first two seasons of The White Lotus, created and directed by Mike White. And like every actor, she dreamed of joining the cast. “For so long, I was trying to work out where I would fit into that world,” she says. “I wanted nothing more than to work with Mike.” So when the role of Chelsea, a hopeless romantic who maps her life according to astrology, landed in her inbox, she knew instantly it was her way in. She also had a hunch about how it would end. “I read it, and my gut went, Oh, she dies. I just knew she died. Of course, Mike’s going to create a love story with a really hopeful character and then kill her! He has to kill hope.”

Wood’s own hopeful spirit, however, is far harder to extinguish. Before joining the hit HBO Max series, where she starred opposite Walton Goggins as the dark and brooding (and equally ill-fated) Rick, Wood had already won hearts for her starring role (as a character also named Aimee) in Sex Education. With The White Lotus, the 31-year-old British actor has reached an even broader audience: 6.2 million viewers tuned in for the season 3 finale, a more than 50% increase over the previous season’s ender. She’s the first to admit that the line between herself and Chelsea is blurry—and her own charming wit, poetic musings on love and life, and, yes, that natural, gap-toothed grin have cemented her as a fan favorite both on-screen and off-. So much so that during her W photo shoot on the streets of New York, pedestrians, cyclists, and idling drivers made it a point to shout how much they love her.

Mike White has his cast members take the Enneagram test to determine their personalities. Did you take it?

Well, I’m fixated on astrology, just like Chelsea. In every conversation, I have to bring things back to astrology. And Mike’s version of that is the Enneagram. He is obsessed. On set, everyone wanted to have the right number, the one that Mike liked most. It became: “Do you think that’s the right number?” I was like, “Guys, there’s no right number! It’s just who you are.”

What number are you?

I can’t remember what I got because I did two tests: one as Chelsea and one as me. The first one, Mike was like, “Oh, do it again.” I did, and he was like, “Yeah, that’s right.” He was making everyone feel paranoid about their personality types, but that’s just who he is. He’s mischievous.

What’s his sign?

He’s a Cancer. Very intuitive, which is why he’s so good at casting, because he sees the person and says, “That’s them.” There’s no chemistry test, no read-through. Walton and I had never met Patrick [Schwarzenegger]; none of us had met. I think his Cancer nature just makes him know that the alchemy is going to work.

Were you a theatrical child?

I was a deeply shy child. My favorite activity was getting out my dictionary and putting each word into a sentence. I wanted to be a writer; I wanted to be Emily Brontë.

There is a lot of nudity in Sex Education. Is it hard to act when you’re naked?

Yes, there was a lot of sex. But when I look back on it now, Aimee was the character who had to express a lot in the first season. We were the first project that made intimacy coordinators compulsory. But I felt very vulnerable afterwards because I realized that nobody else had gone as far as my character had.

What was so great about The White Lotus was that all the women chatted honestly about things like, “What do you think is appropriate for your scene? I don’t think there’s any need for me to be naked.” And for the first time, the intimacy coordinator said to me, “Do you want to see the scene?” So that felt a lot better than the shock of when it comes out. I actually find that the intimacy stuff is less scary than just wearing a bikini. The sex scenes are always a storytelling device and they’re character-driven rather than ”I’m going to have to be around a pool in a bikini.” Ugh!

Who was your childhood cinematic crush?

I had several. Tim Curry in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. That was defining for me when I first watched it. And then also in Annie, when he sings. I had the biggest crush on him. I thought he was the coolest person ever.

Where was your first kiss?

I had a boyfriend in nursery [school]. They would separate us during story time because we would kiss the whole time. But then, the one that I can remember was outside a disgusting pub in Manchester. I threw up into a McDonald’s cup the same night. It was very drunken teenage times.

What is your pet peeve?

So many strange things. I think this is being neurodivergent as well, but sensory overwhelm—like when you go for a massage. When it’s tough, I’m great with that. When it’s tickle tickle [mimes a light touch], I’m like, I need to vacate my body to be able to cope with this.

And then also when taxi drivers ask me for directions. I go, “I don’t know! That’s why I’m in a taxi!”

The big one is inauthenticity. Subtext makes me really nervous. I would rather someone just be really direct. When I can sense that there’s something going on underneath the smile, the passive-aggressive, I’m like, Oh my gosh. That stuff really scares me.

Do you have any fashion moments that you regret?

Loads. When I was younger, I was obsessed with Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink, and I tried to re-create those outfits. It just didn’t work. I look back and I think, Oh, bless you. But you know what? I love that I tried, that it was Molly Ringwald, and I wasn’t conforming to what all the other girls were wearing.

Do you have a favorite reality show?

There are two shows in the U.K. called I Kissed a Girl and I Kissed a Boy, and they are so brilliant. They are like Love Island, but gay. The first thing that the people have to do is kiss each other, and they get partnered up.

Do you get starstruck?

When I met Olivia Colman, I couldn't speak. I didn’t get on the Olivia Colman train when she was this big, famous star—I was on the Olivia Colman train from 8 years old, watching her in tiny parts in British comedies, where she would have one scene, but she would just be the funniest, most magnetic woman. I was like, I want to be her. She’s my idol.

Another one was Steve McQueen. I had a meeting with him, and I was so excited, because I had all these clever and poetic things to say about his movies and why I loved them so much. He opened the door, and I just burst into tears. I didn’t stop crying for 30 minutes.

Hair for portfolio by Evanie Frausto at Streeters; makeup for portfolio by Kiki Gifford at Streeters; manicures for portfolio by Megumi Yamamoto at Susan Price NYC. Set design by Andy Harman at Lalaland.

Produced by AP Studio, Inc.; executive producer: Alexis Piqueras; producer: Anneliese Kristedja; production manager: Hayley Stephon; production coordinator: Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick; lighting technician: Eduardo SilvA; lab: picturehouse+thesmalldarkroom; retouching: picturehouse+thesmalldarkroom; fashion assistants: Tyler VanVranken, Amir La Sure, Celeste Roh, Lila Hathaway, Natalie Mell; production assistants: Linette Estrella, Ariana Kristedja, Sammi Kulger, Ryan Carter, Cameron Bevans, Chase Walker, Rory Walsh; hair assistants: Courtney Peak, Austin Weber, Simone Domizi; makeup assistants: Mika Iwata, Anna Kurihara, Nana Hiramatsu; manicure assistant: ​​Rieko Smith; set assistants: Kevin Kessler, Cedar Kirwin, Paul Levine; tailor: Lindsay Amir Wright; tailor’s assistant: Natalie Wright.