How Aimee Lou Wood overcame a traumatic childhood, bulimia and ‘many mental illnesses’ to land The White Lotus role as she’s tipped as Hollywood’s new golden girl

She’s set to become a global name with her starring role in The White Lotus. 

Yet Aimee Lou Wood, 30, has already built up a solid fanbase over the years, starring in popular TV series, films and taking on theatre roles. 

It’s a career trajectory that Aimee didn’t expect, with the working class Mancunian actress admitting she’s spent years unpacking childhood trauma and struggling with her mental health. 

Yet it was her hardships that are responsible for pushing her into the industry, with Aimee previously confessing that ‘people like me get into acting because it helps them in some way. It helps you express yourself, or gives you a shield from “bad things”.’

The Stockport native has previously spoken about her ‘turbulent’ upbringing, revealing her father battled drink and drug addiction that would see him leave the family home without warning for days on end. 

She told The Guardian: ‘He would go out for a pint and not come back for days. He once went out and didn’t come back for 10 weeks because he’d been to the World Cup in Korea.’ 

She’s set to become a global name with her starring role in The White Lotus, yet Aimee Lou Wood , 30, has already built up a solid fanbase over the years

It’s a career trajectory that Aimee didn’t expect, with the working class Mancunian actress admitting she’s spent years unpacking childhood trauma (pictured with her parents) 

Aimee continued: ‘He was a party animal on the scene in Manchester so he would hang out with celebrities and Manchester City football players; he had a massive ego, so that gave him validation. 

‘Because of him, my mum had to carry a lot on her shoulders. She tried to protect us, and took responsibility for it, in a way.’  

Her parents ended up divorcing while she was at school, with Aimee living with her mother and new partner. 

Aimee’s stepfather paid for her to attend a private secondary school, where she was able to explore her love of acting by studying drama. 

Yet she felt out of place with her thick Stockport accent, admitting she was bullied by her ‘posh’ classmates and teased about her ‘Bugs Bunny’ teeth. 

Her self-confidence ended up through the floor, with Aimee admitting she didn’t believe she would land good roles because she wasn’t ‘conventional-looking enough’.

Aimee also battled eating disorders and body dysmorphia in childhood, telling Harper’s Bazaar: ‘I hated my body and didn’t want to be in it – that’s not the case any more, thank God.

‘But then, going to drama school, it can get even worse. I have scoliosis [curvature of the spine], so neutral for me is not neutral for everyone else.

‘You go to drama school and everyone’s being straightened out. It’s not easy being told you’re moving wrong – it’s basically a tirade on your body.’ 

The Stockport native has previously spoken about her ‘turbulent’ upbringing, revealing her father battled drink and drug addiction. He is now sober and their relationship has improved

Aimee also battled eating disorders and body dysmorphia in childhood, telling Harper’s Bazaar: ‘I hated my body and didn’t want to be in it – that’s not the case any more, thank God’

Her struggle with bulimia was noticed by the staff when she trained at RADA, leading to a ‘harsh but necessary’ intervention. 

Through therapy she was able to reframe her issues with her body as well as unpack the childhood trauma she faced. 

Aimee’s father is now clean and sober, and their relationship is far healthier. 

On working through her problems, she shared: ‘It’s hard with addicts: you feel like you spend your whole life congratulating them for getting sober, but what about the people who get left behind? 

‘I guess therapy has helped me to unpick a lot. I’m learning through therapy that some people have a really steady line in life and then… poof, trauma. While others are working through a constant flow of s**t.’

In 2019, Aimee landed her big break when she was cast in Netflix’s racy comedy, Sex Education as the sweet and ditzy Aimee. 

She played the girlfriend of the headmaster’s son, Adam, with fans delighted when it emerged that she and the actor Connor Swindells were dating in real life. 

Yet the relationship fizzled out after two years, with Amie saying: ‘We’d had some time apart because of work, and then we realised that maybe the relationship wasn’t serving us both. 

‘We still really love each other and respect each other. It was an okay breakup, it wasn’t dramatic.’

In 2019, Aimee landed her big break when she was cast in Netflix’s racy comedy, Sex Education
as the sweet and ditzy Aimee

She played the girlfriend of the headmaster’s son, Adam, with fans delighted when it emerged that she and the actor Connor Swindells were dating in real life

The relationship fizzled out after two years, with Amie saying: ‘We’d had some time apart because of work, and then we realised that maybe the relationship wasn’t serving us both’

She added: ‘When I’m in a relationship I find it hard to maintain my sense of self. I’m very independent but also quite impressionable.

‘I kind of start betraying myself and compromising my integrity to keep someone else happy. That’s why it’s really important for me to have time alone.’

Aimee worked with intimacy co-ordinators to help with all her racy scenes, admitting she was warned about facing a ‘vulnerability hangover’ after stripping off on camera.

She explained: ‘The intimacy co-ordinator said sometimes you’ll feel pretty exhilarated after you’ve just done the sex scene, then a day or two later you get a bit of a vulnerability hangover and you’re like, “S**t!”

‘So she checks in on us a day or two after we’ve filmed it to see how we’re feeling. With the scene, I was so supported on set. But a couple of days later I was like, “Oh, my god!”

Aimee added that filming the scene gave her a ‘major vulnerability hangover’, saying: ‘I was like, “I look hideous, my a*** in the air, so unflattering”.’

But she concluded that she was glad producers didn’t airbrush anything, adding: ‘Now I look back at that and think, “wow, great!”

As well as featuring in racy and humorous plots, her character was also part of an important and emotional storyline in season two, which followed her trauma after being sexual assaulted on a bus.

She was widely praised for her work on the storyline.

Aimee also received industry praise for her role in Sex Education when she won the BAFTA TV Award for Female Performance in a Comedy Programme in 2021

In another big project, she appeared alongside acting legend Bill Nighy in 2022 film Living, which follows a humorous bureaucrat as he takes time off work in 1950s London

Aimee also received industry praise when she won the BAFTA TV Award for Female Performance in a Comedy Programme in 2021.

While her role on Sex Education was her first major acting credit, Aimee went on to carve out a  successful career.

In 2020, Aimee appeared in the play Uncle Vanya, starring alongside huge British names including Richard Armitage and Toby Jones.

She then went on to join the star-studded cast of The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, which saw Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy taking on the leading roles.

In another big project, she appeared alongside acting legend Bill Nighy in 2022 film Living, which follows a humorous bureaucrat as he takes time off work in 1950s London after receiving a grim diagnosis.

Aimee went on to appear in Cabaret as Sally Bowles at the Kit Kat Club for a three-month stint. 

Last year saw her take the lead in BBC comedy Daddy Issues, playing a pregnant party girl who is forced to move back in with her recently divorced father (David Morrissey). 

Having gained a younger American fanbase with her work in Sex Education, Aimee now looks set to draw in a wider crowd with her work on The White Lotus. 

Later this month her Netflix show Toxic Town will be released, which sees her star alongside Jodie Whittaker in a retelling of the 2009 Corby toxic waste case

The hugely popular series returns to screens on Sunday and sees Aimee take on the role of Chelsea, the young girlfriend of Rick (Walton Goggins) who takes her to Thailand for a couple’s retreat but has other motivations behind the trip.

She jetted off to Thailand last year to film the series, but admitted  she found her character ‘claustrophobic’ and revealed her ‘many f***ing mental illnesses’ made filming hard. 

Filmed at the Four Seasons in Koh Samui, the cast stayed at the hotel for different periods of time with Aimee revealing she stayed an extra month.

Speaking to Elle UK, she said: ‘I am someone who has so many f***ing mental illnesses, and there’s nothing wrong with being mentally ill.

‘But that extra month, it really makes a difference. I was like, “Oh, another month, ok” It did feel like The Truman Show, social experiment vibes, a lot of the time.’

Returning to her friends in London, Aimee said: ‘I was crying at the beautiful London litter, it was home.’

As for the star-studded cast, including Harry Potter’s Jason Isaac and the American actress, Michelle Monaghan, Aimee said: ‘If we didn’t have each other we would all have gone mad.

‘Because we were
so far away from home and everyone was homesick, and it’s so claustrophobic because you film where you live.

‘There’s no separation, you walk out and you’re on set. Filming in a hotel, living in a hotel, like you become a White Lotus guest, you actually do.

‘It became so meta. There were times when we’d be out for dinner and someone would start accidentally, verbatim, saying their lines from the show. It all became so merged and so confused.’

Having gained a younger American fanbase with her work in Sex Education, Aimee now looks set to draw in a wider crowd with her work on The White Lotus

Aimee vowed to become more ‘real’ going forward, confessing: ”It’s all been so much bigger and more abundant and overwhelming than I ever thought it would be.

‘Underneath all of these characters and these stories and these experiences, who the hell am I? I don’t think I really know. That’s what this year is going to be. Getting real is 2025.

‘For the longest time, everyone thought that I was [Sex Education’s] Aimee Gibbs. But Aimee was, in many ways, the most far from me. Chelsea might be the one I feel most claustrophobic with.’ 

As well as The White Lotus, Aimee has other major projects in the pipeline this year.

Later this month her Netflix show Toxic Town will be released, which sees her star alongside Jodie Whittaker in a retelling of the 2009 Corby toxic waste case.

She has also stepped behind the camera with Film Club, a BBC Three series that she stars in but also co-wrote. 

This year will also see her star in crime-thriller film Sweet Dreams, which has been pitched as ‘a British Fargo’.

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