Aimee Lou Wood has said she is unsure of her identity “underneath all of these characters” she has played as an actress.
The 30-year-old is most known for playing Aimee Gibbs in the hit Netflix show Sex Education, and said everyone recognised her as this character “for the longest time.”
Speaking to Elle UK about her new role in The White Lotus, she said: “This season feels different in a great way. Mike (White, the show’s creator) just nails people.
“He nails our awful habits and our egos with this humour and specificity that is just so alarming.”
Wood plays Chelsea in the TV programme which follows the movements of a handful of guests and employees at a luxury hotel resort.
“Chelsea isn’t staff, but she’s also not a guest,” Wood said.
“She feels a bit like the audience: we’re visiting The White Lotus, but it’s not really where we belong.”
In 2023, the US drama, now in its third series, won the outstanding casting for a drama series Emmy with Jennifer Coolidge securing the supporting actress gong for her role as Tanya McQuoid-Hunt.
Reflecting on her acting career, Wood said: “It’s all been so much bigger and more abundant and overwhelming than I ever thought it would be.
“Underneath all of these characters and these stories and these experiences, who the hell am I? I don’t think I really know.
“That’s what this year is going to be. Getting real is 2025.”
She continued: “For the longest time, everyone thought that I was Aimee Gibbs.
“But Aimee was, in many ways, the most far away from me. Chelsea might be the one I feel most claustrophobic with.”
Wood also discussed her mental health and said: “I’m like, ‘no, accept the brain that you’ve got and now start living for that truth,’ I am someone who has so many f****** mental illnesses, and there’s nothing wrong with being mentally ill.”
Speaking about her desire to write, she added: “It does feel more me. I don’t want to be in the next thing I write, I just want to write. And I’d love to be a showrunner.”
Wood has also been starred in the BBC series Daddy Issues and played Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret in 2023.
The full interview with Wood is available to read on the Elle UK website.
