Aimee Lou Wood has been getting a lot of attention for her turn in White Lotus’ third season, though as she’s pointed out, much of that attention seems to be fixated on her teeth. While she at first welcomed the discourse, Wood recently admitted she’s tired of talking about her “gnashers.” Apparently, Saturday Night Live did not get that message.
Over the weekend, the show aired a skit titled “White POTUS,” which featured SNL cast members impersonating Donald Trump, his family, and his confidantes, each vaguely resembling a White Lotus character on vacation in Thailand. Jon Hamm, the evening’s host, played an irritated RFK Jr., prattling on about a syringe full of active measles virus. “I’ve been having these insane ideas, like what if we took all the fluoride out of the drinking water? What would that do to people’s teeth?” Hamm wondered. The camera then panned to cast member Sarah Sherman, wearing prosthetic buck teeth. “Fluoride? What’s that?” she asked in an attempt at Wood’s Manchester accent.
Wood was less than impressed with the skit, which seemed to be making her appearance the butt of the joke. In a series of Instagram stories, she said she found “the SNL thing mean and unfunny,” and proposed that “there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way” to skewer her White Lotus role. “I am not thin skinned. I actually love being taken the piss out of when it’s clever and in good spirits,” Wood wrote. “But the joke was about fluoride. I have big gap teeth not bad teeth.”
“I don’t mind caricature — I understand that’s what SNL is, but the rest of the skit was punching up and I/Chelsea was the only one punched down on,” she added. “At least get the accent right, seriously. I respect accuracy, even if it’s mean.”
Wood later clarified that she didn’t hold Sherman responsible for the parody, writing that she wasn’t “hating” on the comedian, but on the “concept” of the bit. Since her initial stories went up, Georgia May Jagger, Cara Delevingne, and Jameela Jamil have all spoken up in Wood’s defense, the latter writing on Instagram that Wood’s smile is the “least interesting or memorable thing about this brilliant actor.” And according to Wood, it seems SNL finally got the message: In another Instagram story, she said the show had reached out to apologize for the ill-conceived skit. Great, now we can all put the teeth discourse to bed and let Aimee Lou Wood act in peace.
