British actress Aimee Lou Wood, best known for her role in The White Lotus, has strongly criticized a recent Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketch that impersonated her character using exaggerated prosthetic teeth and a thick accent.
Calling the segment “mean and unfunny,” Wood took to Instagram to express her disappointment, arguing that the sketch crossed a line from comedy into cruelty.
“I’m more than happy to be made fun of when it’s clever and in good spirits,” she wrote, “but there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way.” The sketch, which aired this past week, featured a fictional scenario with Donald Trump and his team visiting the White Lotus resort.
Sarah Sherman portrayed Wood’s character, Chelsea, using a strong accent and oversized fake teeth that appeared to mock the actress’s natural dental gap.
While Wood acknowledged the tradition of caricature in SNL’s comedy, she felt the sketch unfairly singled her out in a demeaning way. “I have big gap teeth, not bad teeth,” she emphasized in one post.
She pointed out that the rest of the skit seemed to “punch up” at political figures, while her character alone was the target of ridicule that felt personal and superficial.
“The whole joke was about fluoride,” she added with disbelief, referring to a line in the sketch where her character asks, “Fluoride? What’s that?” This, she said, reduced her to a stereotype and undermined her work as an actor.
“I/Chelsea was the only one punched down on,” she wrote, challenging the ethics of the sketch’s humor.
Wood made it clear that her criticism was not aimed at cast member Sarah Sherman personally but rather at the concept and execution of the sketch itself. “I’m not hating on Sarah—I’m hating on the concept,” she clarified.
She also criticized the use of the accent in the portrayal, saying, “I respect accuracy even if it’s mean.” The actress felt the performance was not only exaggerated but bordered on being offensive, as it perpetuated outdated and harmful stereotypes about women, especially those with visible differences.
“This sums up my view,” she said, sharing a follower’s comment that described the sketch as starting off “sharp and funny” but taking “a screeching turn into 1970s misogyny.”
The 31-year-old actress, originally from Stockport, Greater Manchester, revealed that she had received an apology from SNL after making her feelings public.
“Thousands of people have messaged me, agreeing with what I said,” she noted, adding that she was relieved she spoke up. Wood, who rose to fame on Sex Education, said the ongoing focus on her teeth in media coverage had become frustrating, especially when it overshadowed her professional achievements.
“It makes me really happy that it’s symbolising rebellion and freedom,” she told GQ in a previous interview, “but there’s a limit.”
She went further, questioning whether the same kind of attention would be given to a man in her position. “If it was a man, would we be talking about it this much?” she asked. “It’s still going on about a woman’s appearance.”
Wood’s comments have sparked conversations about the ethics of comedy and how it interacts with physical appearance, gender, and public scrutiny.
Her bravery in speaking up has been widely praised by fans and supporters online, many of whom have echoed her concerns about how female actors are portrayed and parodied.
Among those showing support was her younger sister, Emily Wood, who posted a heartfelt tribute on Instagram. Sharing a photo of the two of them together, Emily called her sister “a powerhouse” and praised her courage and originality. “The admiration I have for this woman is nuts. Beyond comprehension,” she wrote.
“The greatest big sister. My best human on the planet. Her authenticity and originality is incomparable. My god, we are really madly blessed to experience life on earth at the same time as her.”
