‘The White Lotus’ Star Aimee Lou Wood Says Filming HBO Series Was Like Being In “A Social Experiment”

The third season of The White Lotus has garnered praise for Mike White’s exploration of the behavior of the privileged in luxurious settings. Aimee Lou Wood, one of the stars of the series, shared her experience of filming at a lavish Thai resort, likening it to a “social experiment.”

Wood, known for her role in Sex Education, revealed to The Guardian that spending seven months at The Four Seasons hotel, where filming took place without breaks, presented its challenges.

“Living in a hotel where we also filmed? It felt like a social experiment,” she said.

Reflecting on the unique experience, Wood expressed, “It was so extreme. The fun moments were unforgettable and special. The ocean, the landscape, it was majestic. Mike [White, the director] is a genius. Everyone involved is amazing, but the circumstances were quite intense.”

She also recalled a moment when she felt her character and herself blending together: “One day, I was getting my hair done and the hair and makeup artist told me, ‘You need to go home. I don’t know if I’m talking to Aimee or Chelsea.’ I had completely immersed myself. Everyone starts embodying their character to some extent, but I lost track of who I was.”

In The White Lotus, Wood portrays Chelsea, a yoga instructor dating an older man played by Walton Goggins. She remarked on the tense atmosphere created by Mike White’s writing, saying, “There’s always this sense of tension in his scripts.”

Prior to her role in The White Lotus, Wood gained recognition for her portrayal of the abused teenager Aimee Gibbs in Sex Education, a project she took on after drama school. Her performance earned her a BAFTA award, and she admitted, “We had no idea it would become so big.”