Saturday Night Live producers have come under fire this week for poking fun at Aimee Lou Wood's physical appearance - a move which has since prompted a damning response from the White Lotus actress.
During a sketch that aired over the weekend, the exotic drama-thriller series served as the inspiration, with the British star's latest character Chelsea - from the third and most recent instalment - taking centre stage.
The skit was seemingly aimed at taking aim at controversial US president Donald Trump, with the spoof being titled 'The White POTUS.'
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Whilst comedian James Austin Johnson portrayed the Republican leader, who himself was standing in for Jason Isaacs' lead character Timothy Ratliff, Chloe Fineman portrayed Melania Trump, using the now-iconic Southern accent that actress Parker Posey's used for her White Lotus character, Victoria.
Jon Hamm also joined the comedy line-up portraying Robert F. Kennedy Jr. whilst taking on Walter Goggins' hippy-dippy character Rick, whilst comedian Sarah Sherman took on 31-year-old Wood's role.
Whilst the sketch in general saw Trump and his right-wing administration bare the brunt of the joke, bosses of SNL have also been slammed for mocking Wood's character, by having Sherman wear a set of fake teeth and attempt her northern English accent.
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Responding to the sketch, the UK star - who first shot to fame after appearing on Netflix's coming-of-age drama Sex Education - took to Instagram, where she had her say on the show.
"But whilst in honest mood — I did find the SNL thing mean and unfunny xo," she penned, adding that she might delete the post later.
Wood then went on to respond to a number of fan queries surrounding the sketch.
"Such a shame [because] I had a great time watching it a couple weeks ago," she responded to one, before telling another in a follow-up post: "Yes, take the piss for sure — that’s what the show is about — but there must be a [more clever], more nuanced, less cheap way?"
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Wood also slammed Sherman, adding with a laughing emoji: "At least get the accent right seriously. I respect accuracy, even if it’s mean."
An hour later, the TV star revealed she'd received an apology. "I’ve had apologies from SNL," she wrote on her story.
The star's teeth had previously sparked mass debate online, with some HBO viewers wondering following the latest series' release whether her teeth were legitimate, or a choice made by White Lotus producers.
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"Aimee lou wood’s teeth p*ss me off," one admitted on social media recently.
Others, however, have praised the Wood for slashing beauty standards and avoiding having her teeth professionally altered.
"I really love Aimee Lou Wood’s teeth," one gushed. "It significantly makes her ten times more attractive to me."
Another added: "I will hunt any dentist that tries to give aimee lou wood veneers for sport leave her and her adorable bunny teeth alone they suit her so well."
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Last week, however, whilst Wood admitted that she was happy that her appearance was viewed as refreshing by so many of her fans, she feared that talk of her teeth was detracting from her talent.
"It makes me really happy that it’s symbolising rebellion and freedom, but there’s a limit," she began, before questioning whether a man with such a facial feature would receive as much attention," she told GQ, admitting the comments made her 'a bit sad.'
Wood continued: "The whole conversation is just about my teeth, and it makes me a bit sad because I’m not getting to talk about my work.
"They think it’s nice because they’re not criticising. And, I have to go there…"
The on-screen favourite went on to admit: "I don’t know, if it was a man would we be talking about it this much? It’s still going on about a woman’s appearance."
Speaking in the interview, Wood also admitted to previous worries that HBO wouldn't want her to feature on the shown because she was 'ugly.'
"Someone told me how much Mike [White] had fought for me," she went on. "They said, 'It had to be you, no matter what HBO said.'"
"It was honestly from the nicest place, but my little head goes: 'HBO didn’t want me. And I know why HBO didn’t want me, it’s because I’m ugly.'"
"Mike had to say, 'Please let me have the ugly girl!' That was the thing that was in my head."
Tyla contacted NBC for comment.
Topics: Aimee Lou Wood, The White Lotus, Celebrity, TV And Film, UK News, US News
Rhianna Benson