Aimee Lou Wood has hit out at Saturday Night Live writers and producers for commissioning a White Lotus skit which mocked her signature and unique teeth. The BAFTA winning actress, 31, was left feeling offended and angry after watching the skit which ridiculed her appearance, calling it ‘mean and unfunny’.
The Sex Education star, who loves her model-like and unique teeth, took to her Instagram stories to hit back at SNL for creating the scene about her appearance. The skit saw actress Sarah Sherman impersonate Aimee while using exaggerated prosthetic teeth. The sketch was based on US President Donald Trump and his top team spending time at the fictional White Lotus hotel.
Aimee’s character Chelsea, portrayed by cast member Sarah, was seen referencing the actress’s teeth in the scenes as she asks: “Fluoride? What’s that?” In response to the skit, Aimee said that she was left questioning her own appearance. She told her Instagram followers: “Whilst in honest mode – I did find the SNL thing mean and unfunny.”
After watching the sketch, Aimee said that she’s ‘not thin skinned’ and understands that the show’s humor relies on exaggeration and ‘caricature’, but that the whole joke ‘was about fluoride’. Aimee insisted: “I have big gap teeth, not bad teeth.”
While she acknowledged that most of the sketch took aim at those in power, she said that she most definitely felt singled out as she admitted: “The rest of the skit was punching up, and I/Chelsea was the only one punched down on.”
The actress clarified that her criticism wasn’t aimed at comedian Sarah herself, saying she was ‘not ‘hating on’ her, but ‘hating on the concept’ of the whole skit. Aimee included a comment from a viewer who initially found the sketch ‘sharp and funny’ before it ‘took a screeching turn into 1970s misogyny’. “This sums up my view,” the actress agreed.
Aimee also took issue with Sherman’s portrayal of her, and in particular, her voice and her accent: “I respect accuracy even if it’s mean.” Since posting, Manchester-born Aimee has said that she has been overwhelmed with support and have received thousands of messages echoing her feelings.
SNL bosses have now issued an apology to the British actress. Aimee said on her stories that bosses reached out to her after she shared her annoyance about the sketch and offered her an apology for hurting her feelings. Alongside a selfie, she wrote: ‘I’ve had apologies from SNL’.
Naturally, viewers across the pond have quickly fallen in love with Aimee given her performance in season three of the White Lotus, but the actress recently revealed her experience being cast in the series had its bumps in the road.
Aimee plays Chelsea, yoga teacher trying to re-center her boyfriend Rick who is stuck in the past and struggling with his violent and vengeful side. The last episode of the series revealed Chelsea’s fate, and Rick’s, as the two were killed by gunfire, as fans were left devastated by Aimee’s characters death.
Despite her popularity, while doing press for the series, Aimee revealed that she felt ‘ugly’ after finding out the director of the show Mike White had ‘fought’ to get her cast. “Someone told me how much Mike 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,” she added.
Aimee also spoke about how she felt having her physical appearance overshadow her talent as an actress, as it seemed that whenever anyone mentioned Lou Wood’s performance in the series, the first thing they pointed out was her teeth.
“It makes me really happy that it’s symbolizing rebellion and freedom, but there’s a limit. 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,” she explained. “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.”
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