The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood has called a Saturday Night Live sketch that impersonated her using exaggerated prosthetic teeth “mean and unfunny”.
The British actress also suggested the US comedy show’s sketch was misogynistic.
In a series of Instagram posts, Wood wrote that she was happy to be made fun of “when it’s clever and in good spirits” but that there “must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way”.
Wood, 31, said she had received “apologies from SNL” after sharing her criticism.
The actress’s role in the third series of The White Lotus is on course to make her a star after her outstanding performance as a hippy chic on vacation with her troubled older boyfriend played by Walton Goggins.
The series follows a group of guests at a resort and prompted significant media attention surrounding what she calls her “big gap teeth”.
The SNL sketch, which aired this week, imagined US President Donald Trump and his top team spending time at the fictional hotel.
Wood’s character Chelsea was portrayed by cast member Sarah Sherman using a pronounced accent and fake teeth.
At one point, in a reference to the actress’s teeth, she asks: “Fluoride? What’s that?”
Wood, who burst onto screens in Netflix’s Sex Education, said she was “not thin skinned” and understood that SNL was about “caricature”.
“But the whole joke was about fluoride,” she wrote on social media. “I have big gap teeth not bad teeth.
“The rest of the skit was punching up and I/Chelsea was the only one punched down on“.
She said that she was not “hating on” Sarah Sherman, but “hating on the concept”.
Wood also shared a comment by an unnamed user describing the sketch as “sharp and funny” before taking “a screeching turn into 1970s misogyny”.
“This sums up my view,” the actress added.
She also criticised Sherman’s accent, writing: “I respect accuracy even if it’s mean.”
Wood, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, wrote that she had received “thousands of messages” agreeing with her since sharing her posts, and that she was glad she “said something”.
Speaking on GQ last week, Wood said that the conversation surrounding her teeth made her “a bit sad because I’m not getting to talk about my work”.
“It makes me really happy that it’s symbolising rebellion and freedom, but there’s a limit,” she said, adding, “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.”
The pre-taped sketch that aired on Saturday, called The White Potus, and spoofed the Trump family on vacation in Thailand with key players from the President’s administration.
SNL host Jon Hamm played a concerned Robert Kennedy, Jr., but appeared to be dressed like Goggins’ character, Rick, as he shared animated thoughts about the future with Wood’s character, Chelsea, played by Sherman.
“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?”
Sherman donned a long brunette wig and false, over-sized teeth for her Chelsea impression. “Fluoride? What’s that?” she asked Rick. “Oh look, a monkey.”
“I’m gonna go kill it and eat it,” Hamm said before Sherman responded with an enunciated accent, “No, not the monkey!”
Wood aired her grievances online in a series of Instagram posts.
“But whilst in honest mode – I did find the SNL thing mean and unfunny xo,” she wrote before adding, “Felt righteous might delete later X.”
Wood added, “So to conclude today’s rant: @hbo – kind and supportive and never wronged me so leave them alone, @nbcsnl – mean.”
She continued with her stories, “Such a shame cuz I had such a great time watching it a couple weeks ago. Yes, take the p–s for sure – that’s what the show is about – but there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way?”
While some fans were impressed with the SNL original, social media users voiced concerns with the parody, and blasted Saturday Night Live for Sherman’s portrayal of Wood.
“Brilliant sketch, except they really didn’t have to make fun of Aimee Lou Wood, it’s just being horrid to a lovely actress for no reason,” one user wrote on Instagram.
“You could have done it without mocking Amy, my Luvs,” another user wrote, while another wrote, “I was a little bummed they did that. They did her dirty. Funny sketch excluding that.”
One fan commented, “I loved this sketch except that part was not necessary. I think her teeth are perfect and she’s gorgeous. I’m sick of Hollywood veneers.”
Wood posted a few replies from her direct messages. Fans noted that “SNL” was “clearly” mocking her “appearance/accent,” to which Wood wrote, “At least get the accent right seriously. I respect accuracy even if it’s mean.”
She later noted that her voice was heard, and the show reached out. “I’ve had apologies from SNL,” she wrote before sharing behind-the-scenes clips from Mike White’s series.