The countdown for season three of The White Lotus is finally over, with the show returning to our screens tonight (Monday 17th February). As per the previous seasons, you can expect the usual portrayal of toxic relationships, satire and of course, a dead body. But for season three, which is set to be the darkest instalment yet, we will also be introduced to plenty of new plots, characters and a new location. For season three, the drama will go down in a wellness resort in Thailand.
The star-studded cast already includes Carrie Coon, Arnas Fedaravičius, Leslie Bibb and Natasha Rothwell, who played Belinda in season one, and Sam Nivola. Another familiar face you might recognise is Aimee Lou Wood, who plays Chelsea in the show. 'I am not the same person as I was pre-White Lotus,' she recently told Elle. 'I had a lot of reckonings out there. I realized how important my anchors are in life.'
Who is Chelsea in The White Lotus?
In The White Lotus, Chelsea, played by Aimee Lou Wood, is a fun-loving young woman who is holidaying in Thailand with her much older boyfriend, Rick, played by Walton Goggins. In an interview with The Radio Times, Aimee said she didn't see similarities between Chelsea and her Sex Education character, Aimee Gibbs.
'She's not like Aimee Gibbs, she's like Aimee Wood,' she said. 'It's so funny because obviously there’s a lot of me in Aimee because, as actors, you want to express yourself through a character. So the similarity is probably that Aimee is like me and Chelsea is also like me, they're just different parts of me – because I just like shedding. I like expressing parts of me through the characters that I'm given. I think they've got a similar optimism, but I actually think, at their core, they're quite different humans.'
The actor behind Chelsea is fast becoming a household name, with a BAFTA already under her belt. Here's everything we know...
Who is Aimee Lou Wood?
Aimee Lou Wood is a BAFTA-award winning actor who is quickly becoming a household name. Aimee is from Stockport in Manchester, where her father worked at a car dealership and her mum works for ChildLine, according to an interview with the Guardian. Her sister Emily is now a make-up artist.
She has previously opened up about her father's struggles with drugs and alcohol. Amy's mum and her father ended up divorcing, and Amy lived with her mum and new partner during her school years.
'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 told The Guardian. '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.'
A life long love of films led Aimee to study A Level drama at Cheadle Hume School before a six-month foundation acting course at the Oxford School of Drama, followed by drama school in London.
How old is Aimee Lou Wood?
Aimee was born on 3rd February 1995, making her 30-years-old.
What else has Aimee Lou Wood been in?
You will probably recognise Aimee from her role in Sex Education, where she played Aimee Gibbs, the best friend of Maeve Wiley as well as the girlfriend of Isaac Goodwin. The popularity of the show shot Aimee to fame almost overnight, and she won a BAFTA for her performance in season two.
In an interview with Grazia in 2021, Aimee addressed her sudden rise to fame. ‘I think at first, I didn’t deal with that very well,’ she said. ‘I never thought that I was going to be in a show as big as Sex Education. It was quite a shock.’ She gets recognised a lot, and though most interactions are well-meaning, ‘it can start to feel a bit like everyone owns a part of you.’
Since Sex Education, Aimee has had several starring roles. Aimee starred in the 2022 film 'Bill Nighy Living' as Miss Margaret Harris, and the 2021 film The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, where she played Claire Wain. She has also has appeared in many stage productions, including Cabaret, Uncle Vanya, Downstate, People, Place & Things, and Mary Stuart. And she's showing no signs of slowing down. In two upcoming shows, Aimee plays a mother - the BBC series Daddy Issues and the upcoming Netflix drama Toxic Town.
Who is Aimee Lou Wood dating?
For two years, Aimee dated her Sex Education co-star Connor Swindells, before they split in 2020. Their characters were also briefly together in the show.
In a 2021 interview with Grazia, she said of the break up: 'We'd had some time apart 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,' adding 'I find it hard when I'm in relationships to maintain my sense of who I am. I'm very independent, but I'm also quite impressionable. I can be taken away from myself quite easily, 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.'
Does Aimee Lou Woods have Instagram?
Yes. You can follow Aimee at @aimeelouwood.