‘It makes me a bit sad’: ‘White Lotus’ star Aimee Lou Wood doesn’t love all the talk about her teeth

Aimee Lou Wood attends the season three premiere of HBO's "The White Lotus" at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. (Chris Delmas/AFP/Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource)

Aimee Lou Wood has been getting a lot of attention for her distinctive gap-tooth appearance, with many praising it as refreshingly authentic for Hollywood. But the “White Lotus” star is not too happy about the fixation on her looks.

The 31-year-old Briton, who plays Chelsea, a fan favourite character on the hit HBO show, spoke to British GQ about all the commentary on her appearance – especially her prominent overbite.

Wood told GQ that the focus on her teeth has come to make her feel like there’s something “goofy” that she hasn’t yet “fixed” about herself.

“It makes me really happy that it’s symbolizing 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.”

She added that she couldn’t help wondering if the same level of attention would be given to a male actor’s appearance. “I don’t know if it was a man would we be talking about it this much?” said Wood, who also played a fan favourite on Netflix’s “Sex Education.”

She admitted to feeling insecure and becoming aware of her “weirdness” even before the show aired, while filming it in Thailand.

One moment that stood out was when a producer told her that the show’s creator, Mike White, had fought to cast her.

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

“It was honestly from the nicest place, but 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 told the magazine. (HBO, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.)

Another time, while filming a scene where her character, Chelsea, runs toward her boyfriend, Rick, on the beach, she remembered a cameraman praising her “weird run.”

“Frank, the cameraman, goes ‘That choice you made with the weird run? That is genius,‘” she recalled. “And I’m going, ‘Frank, that’s my run.‘”

Rosa Rahimi, CNN