This week, actor Aimee Lou Wood gracesThe Run-Throughto catch us up on all thingsThe White Lotus.
Among them: Why does Woods character, Chelsea, stay with the evasive Rick (Walton Goggins)?
What was it like to shoot in Thailand for so long?
Photo: Courtesy HBO
And who is she closest to from the cast?
Aimee Lou Wood:Do you know what?
I way prefer it.
I prefer this format.
It feels really special and a lot less anxiety-inducing than the binge.
Every TV show Ive done has been dropped at once, and everyones at different points of the story.
Im an Aquarius, so I love being part of the collective.
Malle:Its a fun office experience.
Wood:Theories have abounded.
I am so desperate for it to just be out.
I got sent the scripts, so I have known the whole story since I was 29 years old.
I have been carrying the weight of these secrets for so long.
I actually cannot wait until Sunday for this exact reason.
Hannah Jackson:Your character has such great facial expressions on the show.
Do you have a poker face yourself?
Wood:I must, on some level.
I saw these women in an elevator yesterday who do Botox.
Malle:I think thats a real concern for actors.
Wood:Im very anti-Botox for myself, because a lot of my career relies on these facial expressions.
It needs to move, but sometimes it moves too much.
Sometimes I watch things back and I go, Jesus.
I wasnt aware that I was using my face that much in that moment.
I dont think Ill ever play a part that has a poker face, cause I cant do it.
Malle:Do you play poker?
Wood:I dont play poker, but I wish I did.
It seems so cool.
I feel like there should be a TV show about it.
Malle:I wanna hear about being on set.
Did it feel like everyone was sort of on vacation together?
Were you all hanging out afterward?
It wasThe Truman Show.
It felt less vacation and more like family.
It felt like a kind of dysfunctional, glorious family.
We needed each other.
Malle:Did people bring their families, their friends, their partners?
Wood:Yes, and that was massively helpful.
Also, Sam [Rockwell]it was very lovely when he got there.
Cause Leslie [Bibb] and I, were really, really, really close.
I mean, we still speak every day.
We were just hanging out the whole time.
Shes a Scorpio sun, Im a Scorpio moon.
Were very much bonded.
But then it was so lovely, cause when Sam got there, she became even more Leslie.
It was like I got an extra layer when Sam got there, cause theyre just the best couple.
Most of the places that we were in, it was only cast and crew.
The only people that youre seeing are each other.
Thats how you feel like a human.
That was not happening here.
Everyone knew what villa we were in.
It feels like youre being watched the whole time, like a reality TV show.
So it did start to feel a bit mad.
Malle:Was anyone a Method actor who made it hard to relax with?
Wood:I think that we all became a little accidentally Method.
It wasnt even on purpose.
It was just that there is no escape.
And I was like, I dont know who I am.
And there was a lot of personal mirroring going on [with Walton].
Hes nothing like Saxon.
Malle:I find one of the most endearing qualities of Chelsea is how forgiving she is.
I wonder if you think her endless forgiveness for Rick is a power or a weakness.
I think that theres this stubborn belief in fate and that things are predetermined and theyre written.
And thats why she and Rick are really similar.People are like, Look how selfless she is.
But actually, shes a great deflector.
Shes always going, Rick is so mysterious.
We dont know anything about Chelsea.
She puts all of her attention on him as a way to not be seen.
I thought thats one of the best no, thank yous that any young woman has ever instituted.
What was it like, filming that scene?
Wood:That was my last ever scene.
That was the last scene I filmed.
You go up to the bar and you order one.
And the last one was that.
Its like, No, dont look at me.
Look at these books instead, look at these quotes instead.
Look at star signs instead.
Like, she does push people away with the thing that is seemingly intimate.
Malle:Do you miss everyone now?
Are there multiple group chats?
Wood:There are lots of group chats.
I still speak to Leslie every day.
I speak to Michelle loads and loads.
I speak to everyone still.
Were still very bonded.
It was hard because I went back to England.
But it felt sad and scary, as much as I wanted to get home.
I remember doing that scene and being like, This is the last one.
And then I saw Natasha [Rothwell] and she was like, Same.
And then you just realize that everyones going through the same thing.
And the more we spoke about it, the better it was.
And then as soon as the first episode dropped, it felt like its no longer our thing.
And actually, a weight liftedit was like, oh, its the worlds now.
Jackson:Can you tell us a bit about what you have coming up?
And then I wrote a show thatll be coming out this year.
Its very rom-com, and I am very much about bringing the classic rom-coms back.
Malle:Whats your top favorite rom-com?
Wood:Broadcast News.
That would be my lifes mission, to write a movie that is likeSleepless in Seattle.
Jackson:Well, now we have to ask about your culture diet.
Have you been reading, watching, binging, listening to anything?
Wood:I am excited to catch up on stuff because Ive really been out of the loop.
Jackson:I heard youre aGirlsfan?
Wood:Only recently!
Jackson:What girl do you think you are?
Wood:I mean, its not good to be any of them, is it?
I think Im a Hannah.
Malle:Im probably a Marne.
Jackson:[Laughs] Thats terrible.
Jackson:And your moon?
Im getting a little sprinkle of Jessa from you.
Just a sprinkle, though.
Malle:Chelsea is Jessa.
Jackson:The free-spiritedness.
But I think you have the groundedness of a Shoshana too.
Wood:Thank you!
Malle:Aimee, thank you so much for joining us.
We are at the edge of our seats for this weekend.
I know you are too.
