Aimee Lou Wood’s teeth have been the subject of headlines since the 31-year-old starred in Netflix’s British teen sex comedy-drama series Sex Education. More recently, Wood starred in the third season of The White Lotus, which was spoofed in a recent sketch on Saturday Night Live. The sketch included Wood’s character in the HBO show, and she was less than happy with her depiction.
‘SNL’ cast member Sarah Sherman wears exaggerated prosthetic teeth while impersonating Wood’s ‘The White Lotus’ character
The sketch, titled “The White Potus,” swapped the HBO show’s third season cast with impersonations of President Donald Trump and his closest advisors at the fictional hotel. Around halfway through the sketch, SNL cast member Sarah Sherman appears as Wood’s White Lotus character, Chelsea, with exaggerated prosthetic teeth and using a heavy accent.
The jokes about Wood’s teeth continue as Jon Hamm’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mentions fluoride to Sherman’s Chelsea.
Sherman, as Chelsea responds, “Fluoride? What’s that?”
Wood claps back at jokes, calls them ‘mean and unfunny’
Wood stood up for herself on social media, sharing a series of Instagram Stories about her thoughts on her portrayal in the sketch.
“Whilst in honest mode – I did find the SNL thing mean and unfunny,” she wrote, adding she might delete the post later. In a separate post, she mentioned SNL had apologized for the sketch.
Before sharing news of the apology, Wood wrote, “Such a shame cuz I had such a great time watching it a couple weeks ago. Yes, take the piss for sure – that’s what the show is about – but there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way?”
She explained in other posts that she’s “not thin-skinned” and mentioned she wasn’t hating on Sherman but instead “hating on the concept,” the BBC reported.
“But the joke was about fluoride. I have big gap teeth not bad teeth,” Wood wrote on Instagram Stories. “But the rest of the skit was punching up and I/Chelsea was the only one punched down on.”
Wood also commented on all the support she received amid calling out the sketch. According to E! Online, celebrities like Cara Delevingne and Jameela Jamil have been vocal about agreeing with her take on the sketch.
Wood wonders if her appearance would matter less if she were a man
Wood has been vocal about being done with the discourse surrounding her teeth and told GQ earlier this month that she’s happy they’re a sign of “rebellion and freedom” but wonders if her appearance would be as big of a deal if she were a man.
“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 criticizing,” Wood said, adding, “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.”
In her chat with the publication, she recalled an incident with a producer on The White Lotus that triggered her insecurities about her appearance.
“Someone told me how much Mike [White, creator of The White Lotus] 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!'” she told GQ. “That was the thing that was in my head.”
The Guardian reported that Wood clarified on Instagram that her feeling “ugly” was rooted in her insecurities and not something someone at HBO said to her.
