‘It almost killed me’ admits Sex Education star as they open up about brutal role
THE Sex Education star was candid about how her dream role “almost killed” her.
Aimee Lou Wood, who rose to fame after her role in Netflix’s Sex Education, opened up about her next big role and overcoming stage fright.
The 29-year-old told Radio Times magazine all about her next big role in series three of The White Lotus.
The Manchester-born actress revealed how she experimented with her American accent on the series.
Aimee said: “My character was meant to be American and then I did a self-tape, one in an American accent and one in my own.
“They were like, ‘Yeah, we want your own voice’ so my character is going to be from Manchester!”
She also opened up about how she is scared to do more theatre productions and how she deals with stage fright.
Aimee revealed: “Years ago, an actor told me, ‘It’s really important to keep going back to theatre, because otherwise you’ll develop a fear for it, you’ll get stage fright,’ but after Cabaret, I am scared [Wood played the role of Sally Bowles at London’s Playhouse Theatre in 2023].
“I loved it, it was my dream role and it changed me as a person, but it almost killed me. Going on Sally’s journey every night was hard.
“I felt like I was naked on stage. Afterwards, people would say I was great, and I was thinking, ‘I wasn’t pretending, I was actually just screaming and crying and having a breakdown.’
“The line between reality and fiction always gets blurred, but with Cabaret that line was just gone. I want to stay in the safe bosom of a TV set – I think I’m going to have to wait at least five years to do another play.”
Meanwhile, her latest role is in the new BBC Three comedy Daddy Issues.
Aimee plays Gemma, a girl who becomes pregnant after a one-night stand, and has to reluctantly seek support from her clueless father, Malcolm (David Morrissey).
Talking about her character, Aimee said: “She’s been let down a lot in life, so she’s got this spiky, slightly sarcastic defence up.
“She’s hyper independent and kind of a lone wolf. It’s always conveyed in TV shows that every young person has a big friendship group, or they have a best friend.
Baby Reindeer by numbers
The Netflix series has become quite the breakout smash hit...
- 7 Number of episodes in the series
- 30 Number of countries the series has topped the Netflix chart in
- 64 Percentage increase in viewers the show earned in its second week, compared to its first
- 97 The show’s percentage score on industry bible Rotten Tomatoes
- 41,071 Amount of emails Richard claims he was sent by the real life Martha
- 13.3 million Number of viewers who tuned into the show during its first week
“I don’t think a lot of people have that. Gemma certainly doesn’t – which is why she is pushed to accept help from her dad, Malcolm. She then gets to know her father as a person.”
Talking about the father-daughter dynamic with David Morrissey, she added: “There were certain bits where Malcolm really reminded me of my dad.
“I just love David so much. This might mean nothing to you, but we’re both Scorpio moons [the actors’ star signs] – I knew because we were so aligned instantly and had the best, deepest chats and then would go on set and be silly.
“People associate David with gritty dramas – I am so excited for them to see him being so funny. I had to do some of my lines with my back turned to him, because as soon as we looked at each other, we burst into laughter.”
Daddy Issues will air on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer from Thursday 15th August.
The White Lotus season 3 does not yet have a release date, but most are expecting the show to return in late 2024 or early 2025.
