“Acting has always been a safe place for me to work out my feelings,” Wood said in a new interview with “Harper’s Bazaar.”

How Aimee Lou Wood channeled White Lotus character to shake off body dysmorphia during filming

"Acting has always been a safe place for me to work out my feelings," Wood said in a new interview with "Harper's Bazaar."

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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November 6, 2025 9:03 p.m. ET

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Aimee Lou Wood in season 3 of 'The White Lotus'. Credit:

Fabio Lovino/HBO

Chelsea in *The White Lotus* season 3 wasn't just a support system for Walton Goggins' Rick, she also was a source of inspiration for the star who played her, Aimee Lou Wood.

"Acting has always been a safe place for me to work out my feelings," Wood said in a new interview with *Harper's Bazaar*, adding, "I think for that reason a role will hit me in the heart, in the gut."

According to the outlet, when the British star first checked in for the third edition of *The White Lotus*, which was set at the titular swanky resort in Thailand, and thus called for shooting a lot of scenes in swimsuits, the idea of filming in a bikini brought back "old and unwelcome body dysmorphia," for Wood.

The outlet noted she previously grappled with the issue throughout her teenage years, but she found that channeling Chelsea's self-assuredness emboldened her in her own life. "I shook myself out of it by thinking, 'It’s not about whether Aimee wants to show her body or not — Chelsea does,'" she said.

Aimee Lou Wood as Chelsea in 'The White Lotus' season 3.

Fabio Lovino/HBO

In the end, playing the character — which required seven months filming on location in Thailand — had a lasting impact on the actor. "The line between me and her started to blur," she admitted to *Harper's Bazaar*.

She continued, "I need to do rituals to shed a character. But if I say something like that to my mum and her friends, they’ll reply, 'Oi, she’s been in London for a bit too long, f---ing hell…'"

Wood has previously been open about dealing with body dysmorphia, as well as bulimia and social anxiety, as a teenager. Earlier this year, she revealed she'd recently been diagnosed with ADHD, which she now feels is her secret "superpower" when it comes to her acting career.

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“I don’t need everyone to understand me,” she told *Radio Times* of the diagnosis in September. “The people that get me, get me. The anxiety and feelings of inadequacy come from trying to meet other people’s expectations, but what’s so moving is that when I unmask, other people do too. The exhaustion and shame comes from covering things up, but it’s freeing when you say, ‘My brain doesn’t work like that.'"

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She concluded, "Growing up, I felt a deep need to be 'normal,' but then I realized all my favorite people, all the people I admired, were weird — even my favorite characters, like Jane Eyre. Acting has shifted how I feel about myself. I used to hate how my face was so expressive but going into my 30s, I don’t want to miss out on life because I’m worried about how I’m being perceived. Beauty is internal and I’m my own human-shaped self, and that’s OK. I don’t need to fit into any box.”**

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW TV”