Aimee Lou Wood had support from an unexpected ally when she stood up for her mental health on the set of Anxious People.
Wood, 31, recalled being backed by Angelina Jolie when she advocated for herself during a moment of panic while filming their upcoming comedy movie in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar published on Wednesday, November 5. They had been working on an emotional scene, and Wood was struggling with having multiple crew members shouting at her at once. She ultimately told them that she needed one voice, one direction and no hand movements in order to focus.
“I’ve spent years feeling unable to say anything like that for fear of seeming argumentative — but now I feel like I can take ownership of what I need to thrive, and tell people what won’t work for me,” Wood explained.
The White Lotus star added that when she “spoke up,” Jolie, 50, was quick to show her support.
“All I could see was Angelina giving me a thumbs up,” Wood said. “She’s possibly the most famous woman ever, but she’s so normal. I’m fairly certain she drives herself to set each day.”
Anxious People stars Jolie as an investment banker named Zara, who “begrudgingly finds herself mingling with a group of strangers at an open house” on the day before Christmas Eve, according to the film’s synopsis. “When a reluctant bank robber, Grace (Wood), inadvertently takes the group hostage, chaos and oversharing ensues, secrets are revealed and literally nothing goes according to plan.”
Wood previously opened up about her struggles with body dysmorphia, bulimia and social anxiety in a September 29 interview with Radio Times.
“I still have moments when I’m really overwhelmed and stressed and I feel it coming back up, like, ‘I could just take back control by not eating …’ Then I go, ‘No, I have to [eat]’ and I catch that and try not to get burnt out,” she said. “Growing up, I felt a deep need to be ‘normal,’ but then I realised all my favourite people, all the people I admired, were weird — even my favorite characters, like Jane Eyre.”
Touching on beauty standards in Hollywood, Wood added, “Acting has shifted how I feel about myself. I used to hate how my face was so expressive but going into my 30s, I don’t want to miss out on life because I’m worried about how I’m being perceived. Beauty is internal and I’m my own human-shaped self, and that’s OK. I don’t need to fit into any box.”
Wood stood up against jokes about her appearance back in April when the Saturday Night Live cast parodied The White Lotus season 3. Sarah Sherman donned a pair of buck teeth in an impression of Wood’s character Chelsea, which Wood ultimately called “mean and unfunny.” Sherman, 32, sent flowers to Wood after the sketch, while Wood said she received “apologies from SNL.”
Wood discussed the discourse surrounding her teeth in an April interview with GQ, revealing that she was tired of talking about them.
“It makes me really happy that it’s symbolizing rebellion and freedom, but there’s a limit,” she said. “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.”
Wood added, “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.”
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