Actress Aimee Lou Wood has said the conversation around her teeth is making her “a bit sad” as she is “not getting to talk about my work”.
The Sex Education star, 31, has been responding to questions about her prominent tooth gap while promoting the latest series of Mike White’s dark comedy, The White Lotus, which aired its season finale on Sunday in the US.
Wood, who has also starred in Netflix drama Toxic Town and BBC comedy series Daddy Issues, questioned whether there would be as much focus on her appearance if she was a man.
“It makes me really happy that it’s symbolising rebellion and freedom, but there’s a limit,” she told GQ Hype.
“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. 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.”
Wood plays Chelsea in the third series of White’s drama, which follows the lives of guests and staff at a luxury resort in Thailand as dark secrets are revealed and tensions rise over the course of the holiday.
She expressed worries that TV network HBO did not want her for the show due to her being “ugly”.
She said: “Someone told me how much Mike had fought for me. They said ‘it had to be you, no matter what HBO said.’
“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!’. That was the thing that was in my head.”
The actress previously told The Jonathan Ross Show that she “can’t believe the impact” her teeth are having.
“The Americans can’t believe (it) but they’re all being lovely,” she said.
“A real full circle moment after being bullied for my teeth forever and now people are clapping in an audience because I’ve got these gnashers.”
Wood also played Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret in 2023, for which she won the award for best takeover performance at the 2024 WhatsOnStage Awards.
The full feature can be read online at GQ Hype by visitinggq-magazine.co.uk/article/aimee-lou-wood-interview-2025.
