Netflix star confronts Hollywood’s beauty standards
Aimee Lou Wood has garnered a lot of attention for her signature gap-toothed look, with many praising her as an authentic Hollywood freshman. But the "White Lotus" star isn't exactly happy with all the attention on her looks, CNN News reports.
The 31-year-old Brit, who plays Chelsea, one of the most beloved characters on the hit HBO series, spoke to British GQ magazine about all the comments about her appearance - especially her pronounced jawline, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.
Wood told GQ that focusing too much on her teeth has made her feel like there's something "funny" about herself that she hasn't "fixed" yet.
"It makes me really happy that it symbolizes rebellion and freedom, but there's a limit," she said. "All the talk is just about my teeth, and it makes me a little sad because I'm not getting the chance to talk about my work."
She added that she couldn't help but wonder if a male actor would receive the same level of attention for his appearance.
"I don't know, if it was a man, would we be talking about it so much?" said Wood, who was also a beloved character in the Netflix series "Sex Education."
She admitted that she had felt insecure and had become aware of her "weirdness" even before the series aired, during filming in Thailand.
One moment that particularly touched her was when a producer told her that the series' creator, Mike White, had fought hard for her to be chosen for the role.
"Someone told me how hard Mike had fought for me. They said, 'It had to be you, no matter what HBO said,'" she recalled.
"It was really from a very kind place, but my little mind thought, 'HBO didn't want me. And I know why they didn't want me, because I'm ugly. Mike had to beg, 'Please, let me take the ugly girl!'" she told the magazine.
Another moment during filming was when they were shooting a scene where her character, Chelsea, runs towards her boyfriend, Rick, on the beach, and a cameraman praised her for her "strange running."
"Frank, the cameraman, said to me, 'That decision you made about the weird run? It was brilliant,'" she recalled. "And I thought, 'Frank, that's my real run.'"
