Aimee Lou Wood says Netflix's Toxic Town reveals an uncomfortable truth

Aimee Lou Wood won a BAFTA for her role in the series — now, the 31-year-old is basking on a Thai beach in The White Lotus.

She is also appearing in Toxic Town, based on the true story of a group of Corby women who went to court to prove their children’s limb differences resulted from the council’s steelworks reclamation.

Six years on from your TV debut, you've just spent seven months in Thailand making one of the biggest shows on TV. Is that journey from Sex Education to The White Lotus as mad as it sounds?

It is quite mad. We had no idea how Sex Education was going to go down, whereas The White Lotus is the first time I’ve been a superfan of something I’m in – which is scary.

How has it felt to watch your Sex Education castmates move on?

It’s been great. I remember Ncuti [Gatwa] looking at everyone during season 4, going: “We are 30-year-olds. We need to graduate!” It was a bit untethering at first when it finished, wondering what my life was without this thing. As it gets further away, it feels more like a fever dream. There was a pressure when it first came out, of being put into a certain mould, but we’ve all done our own thing since.

Your characters in both that and The White Lotus, Aimee and Chelsea, seem superficially similar: kind, curious, a bit green and stuck in a toxic relationship. Would you agree?

Because they’re both me, there will always be things I’m expressing that are of a similar frequency or energy. Even though they’re both underestimated, they’re on very different life journeys and are very different at their core. I feel people think I play similar characters if they have northern accents. If I had an RP accent, I wonder whether they would?

Chelsea was originally American but she now has your accent. Why was it changed?

Why can’t Chelsea be from Manchester? She’s already an outsider and a misfit in this world, so it made sense to me and to [showrunner] Mike White. With Chelsea, I was craving not having separation from her, including speaking in my own voice. All my favourite actors reveal some of themselves. I was having a proper Meg Ryan weekend recently, and she conveys so much of herself through her parts.

Have you ever been anywhere like that Thai resort before?

No, I’m not an adventurer, but I want to work on that part of myself because, otherwise, I would happily stay in my bit of south-east London. I’d never been to Thailand and there’s nothing like seven months living in a hotel you’re filming in. You become like a White Lotus guest – it was the most immersive experience I’ve ever had, blurring fiction and reality.

You're also currently in Toxic Town playing real-life Corby mum Tracey Taylor — why is it an important story to tell?

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard about it – it never really got into the national news, so it’s important to the real Tracey on a practical level. Anything that exposes an uncomfortable truth feels important to be a part of. I was in awe of her resilience. She doesn’t see herself as a hero at all, but all the other mums do. And it was liberating because, although I care how it’s received, once I knew Tracey was happy, it was “job done”.

Between Toxic Town and BBC Three comedy Daddy Issues, you spent a lot of last year either playing pregnant or a mum. What was that like?

It made me definitely want kids. I did start to interact with my bump on BBC Three’s Daddy Issues as if it was real. On Toxic Town, I had a week-old baby on my shoulder and it felt very real and intense when she was taken away. But you’re playing a teenager one minute, then you’re pregnant and then a mum. It happened pretty much overnight. Goodbye, youth! My next phase will be grandmas…

Did turning 30 last year feel like a meaningful landmark?

Something definitely shifted in me. Then a few days later I went to Thailand for the biggest experience of my life, which was odd because I’d got a flat and was so ready to be 30-year-old Aimee, whoever that was! I found 29 harder than 30 – there was a relief in escaping the pressure of my 20s.

The first TV series you've written, Film Club, is soon set for BBC Three. How did that come about?

It started off as a fun way to pass time during lockdown when I was watching a lot of films, and the idea came to me and Ralph [Davis], my co-writer, that every episode could be based around a film these two friends are watching. I don’t want to be in the next thing I write because you don’t really get to switch off, but I love writing. It’s what I wanted to do when I was younger. I didn’t want to be an actor.

So, what happened?

I knew I could do funny voices and funny characters, so it was a self-protective thing at school. Then I did Guys and Dolls when I was 16 and my English teacher encouraged me to pursue acting because I could still keep up the writing. So, it was a defence mechanism that got way out of control!

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Toxic Town premieres on Netflix on Thursday 27th February 2025.

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