Aimee Lou Wood made it clear she doesn’t regret calling out “Saturday Night Live,” as she doubled down on her criticism in a new interview.
The actress, who is best known for her work on “Sex Education” and “The White Lotus,” addressed the controversy with BBC News and acknowledged that her reaction to the parody took off more than she intended it to.
Still, she stood by her initial reaction and explained why it was important for her to speak out.
“I don’t regret saying it because it was breaking a pattern, which is what I would usually do — what I did when I was younger and got bullied,” Wood shared, “is internalize it, try and make them like me.”
She continued, “I actually remember seeing that and thinking I have a choice here to go in and be embarrassed about it or just say, ‘I didn’t like that. It was mean.’”
The actress was portrayed by “SNL” star Sarah Sherman in an April sketch — called “The White Potus” — where the latter donned oversized teeth and spoke in an over-the-top British accent while playing a caricature of Wood’s “White Lotus” character.
@bbcnews Earlier this year, an SNL sketch impersonated Aimee using exaggerated prosthetic teeth. #AimeeLouWood #SNL #Sketch #Acting #TheWhiteLotus #News #BBCNews ♬ original sound – BBC News
At the time, Wood spoke out against the skit on social media and called the portrayal “mean and unfunny.”
Sherman later addressed her controversial portrayal of Wood and said she felt “terrible” about the whole thing.
“I was excited to play her because she’s so iconic, her character is so iconic,” she told Vanity Fair, at the time. “I f–king obviously never meant to hurt anyone’s feelings. Never in a million years did I get into comedy to make anyone upset.”
“Saturday Night Live” returns for its 51st season on Oct. 4 on NBC at 11:30 p.m. ET.
