Aimee Lou Wood 'loved being the weight' Rick had to carry in 'The White Lotus' finale

This nonfiction contains spoilers for the Season 3 finale of “The White Lotus.”

She was conscionable a miss lasting successful beforehand of a boy, begging him not to bash thing stupid. But helium did. And she ended up successful a assemblage bag.

By the clip the Season 3 finale of “The White Lotus” reached its conclusion, determination were aggregate dormant bodies: Rick (Walton Goggins) and Jim (Scott Glenn) some dice successful the cardinal shoot-out. But Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), a free-spirited erstwhile yoga teacher with meme-worthy expressions, became the collateral harm caught successful the crossfire of her boyfriend’s trauma.

Things came to a caput pursuing the poorly conceived (and poorly executed) program by Rick to avenge his father’s death. He acceptable retired to termination his father’s expected murderer, Jim — owner, with his woman Sritala (Lek Patravadi), of the White Lotus edifice successful Thailand — during a broadside travel to the couple’s location successful Bangkok but didn’t travel through. Rick returns to the White Lotus resort, erstwhile Jim arrives and confronts him — revealing a weapon nether his overgarment and hurling immoderate insults astir Rick’s mother. Rick tries to suppress his simmering rage but, later, erstwhile helium spots Jim posing for photos with Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and her besties, helium marches over, reaches for Jim’s weapon and shoots him. That’s erstwhile Sritala reveals that Jim is really Rick’s father.

But there’s nary clip to process immoderate of it due to the fact that a shoot-out with Jim’s bodyguards ensues and a slug hits Chelsea. A grief-stricken Rick scoops her up and, arsenic helium carries her distant successful his arms, information defender Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) — mustering immoderate fear-based bravery nether the unit of Sritala’s screams — shoots Rick from behind. Rick stumbles with Chelsea into the adjacent water; their bodies floating alongside lily pads. Is it Mike White’s twisted mentation of “The Notebook” ending?

Chelsea, ever the astrology girly, foreshadowed her doom, noting that atrocious things hap successful threes aft she evaded decease doubly — the jewelry store robbery and the venomous snake bite. She didn’t cognize however close she’d be.

The Times caught up with Wood connected Monday to sermon her character’s death, what’s going connected with Saxon and the backstory she and Goggins imagined for however Rick and Chelsea met.

Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) foreshadows her death, saying that atrocious things hap successful threes.

(Fabio Lovino / HBO)

You’re alive!

I’m alive. I cognize it feels truly similar that — everyone who’s saying hullo to maine now, it’s similar it’s my funeral. Now I’ve been reborn.

I’m not OK. I felt similar I should person taken a bereavement day, but past it meant I couldn’t speech to you.

I request to grieve today; it feels truthful weird. We had to bash a sheet [last night] consecutive aft we watched it. That was the archetypal clip I’d watched it. Patrick [Schwarzenegger] was like, “Seven months, we’re a family. And we’ve conscionable watched 1 of our household person that fate, and it feels similar we request clip to process it.” I astir apt could person taken contiguous and time and astir apt the adjacent time to conscionable truly process what I had to spot and the extremity of this huge, agelong acquisition that has been truthful deep, truthful profound, truthful complicated.

In existent American fashion, we’re making you enactment adjacent aft death. So, I apologize for that. It’s been little than 24 hours and I’m definite you’ve had to soundlessness your notifications by now. But what are you proceeding from people?

People are beauteous upset. I’m getting a batch of precise bittersweet messages, to the constituent wherever I’m going, “But I americium not dead! You are texting me. You’re talking to me. I americium here.” It does consciousness idiosyncratic due to the fact that there’s a batch of Aimee successful Chelsea — a batch — and there’s a batch of Chelsea successful Aimee; there’s a batch of Rick successful Walton, and there’s a batch of Walton successful Rick. I recognize wherefore it’s emotional. One happening that I loved speechmaking was idiosyncratic being like, “Maybe Chelsea tin travel backmost successful Season 4 arsenic Saxon’s interior ...” — did you spot that?

No, I haven’t, but I similar wherever this is going.

Maybe she tin beryllium determination arsenic his imaginary person that guides him done life. What they’re really hitting connected there, which I deliberation is true, is Saxon is gonna internalize each the things that Chelsea’s taught him. So, she is surviving on; she’s surviving connected successful each the radical that she has touched.

Your decease is simply a concealed you’ve had to support for a agelong time. But erstwhile precisely did you find retired that Chelsea was going to beryllium killed off? Did Mike White invitation you implicit for piña coladas and explicate what’s going to happen?

Oh my God, however comic was that? “The coconut beverage is off!” And the throwing connected the level was truthful funny. I was laughing truthful much. He did not invitation maine implicit for piña coladas. It was astatine my callback. In my archetypal audition, I did the country wherever it’s Chelsea saying to Rick, “You request to get a facial.” And I besides did, “You’re a Scorpio.” So, I had an thought of Chelsea and Rick from those 2 scenes, which was that it’s a benignant of sweetener babe thing. When I got my telephone back, I got this caller country and it was the 1 wherever she says, “I deliberation we’re going to beryllium unneurotic forever, don’t you?” And Rick says, “That’s the plan.” For immoderate reason, I got truthful upset speechmaking it and I got truthful upset doing it. I deliberation my intuition conscionable told me. I knew. His [Mike’s] intuition told him that I was intuiting it. He was like, “I deliberation you benignant of know,” and I was like, “Yeah, I know, I know.” And he’s like, “yeah, she dies, she has a tragedy.” And I was like, “He’s conscionable told maine that. So possibly that means I’ve got the part?”

Did you truly archer nary one? Not adjacent your mom. I consciousness similar I would archer my mom.

The different day, my ma was like, “Baby, delight accidental it’s not you.” And I was like, “Mom, you don’t privation to cognize due to the fact that I don’t privation to spoil it.” But present I’m like, should I person warned her? Because present she’s having a real, existent pugnacious day. But I didn’t archer anyone. I accidentally told my champion friend, similar sideways, due to the fact that my person who lives with me, helium saw immoderate stills connected the washing machine. I forgot to enactment them away. It was maine lying connected the crushed with humor each implicit maine and Walton crying connected apical of me. He [my friend] was like, “For God’s sake, Aimee.”

Rick (Walton Goggins) and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) conscionable their fate. “For immoderate reason, I got truthful upset speechmaking it and I got truthful upset doing it. I deliberation my intuition conscionable told me. I knew,” said Wood astir her audition and knowing her character’s fate.

(Fabio Lovino / HBO)

What did you deliberation astir however Chelsea met her fate?

On a human, real-life level, I privation it hadn’t person happened to Chelsea, but connected a communicative level, it’s perfect. It’s her. She walks towards the danger. She does not leave. She sees Rick sprout Jim and she doesn’t locomotion away. Her beingness unit is truthful big, but her decease thrust is truthful big. They’re some astatine afloat velocity up astatine each times.

Chelsea is addicted to the narration and to him and to the excitement and she’s got an intolerance for the mundane. If she’d person allowed herself to bask the mundane a spot much and person immoderate much balance, past this would not person happened. People blasted Rick and I recognize wherefore — due to the fact that Chelsea is saccharine — but she makes choices and truthful does he. And some of them are akin successful the consciousness that helium has decided that his higher powerfulness is his symptom and his vengeance, and she has decided that her higher powerfulness is this narration and they are conscionable worshiping those things astatine each times and not taking work for themselves. It’s self-destruction. Rick did not crook that weapon and sprout Chelsea. She walked into it. They some get what they privation — helium gets the revenge that he’s ever wanted and she gets the emotion that she’s ever wanted from him. When radical say, “He should person ne'er person taken her to Thailand ...” I mean, helium was ever saying, “Go away, spell away!”

I conflict with their dynamics truthful overmuch due to the fact that if I was her friend, I’d archer her, “You can’t hole a breached man, you’ll lone interruption with him.” But I’m besides delulu similar Chelsea and I spot their connection. Do you deliberation Rick truly loved Chelsea?

Love is simply a verb, isn’t it? When you’re much naive, you deliberation of it arsenic similar a noun, but it’s a doing thing. I don’t uncertainty that Rick has emotion for Chelsea, but helium is not loving arsenic a verb. She’s not getting the benefits of that emotion due to the fact that he’s feeling it but not doing it, you know. She’s rather lonely successful that relationship, but truthful is he. They’re some 2 lonely radical sat adjacent to each other. And for 1 night, they link properly, afloat erstwhile helium says, “That’s the plan,” astatine breakfast. They person togetherness for a divided 2nd and past it’s taken away. I’m the aforesaid arsenic you, “If that was my person ... ” But she doesn’t person her friends with her. She’s made it each astir him. She’s successful a vertical narration and she’s successful passageway imaginativeness and truthful nary 1 would beryllium capable to halt her. Patrick was like, “I privation Saxon had died and taken a slug for her” due to the fact that everyone wants to person saved Chelsea. Everyone. But she tin lone prevention herself. It’s hard with Chelsea due to the fact that she does a batch of deflecting done the spirituality and each of that worldly that makes her look much omniscient than she really is.

What astir Saxon? As overmuch of an oculus rotation arsenic that quality was, she unlocked thing successful him that changed his outlook oregon has enactment him connected a way to spot things differently. What intrigued you astir their dynamic?

I really emotion Chelsea and Saxon due to the fact that helium listens. It really moves and works connected him truly quickly. She says, “Read these books,” and helium comes to the formation and he’s already work fractional them. And he’s inactive speechmaking it astatine the end, connected the boat. I don’t deliberation Chelsea knows what to bash with that. There’s a ocular practice of that erstwhile Saxon is talking to her astir the book, he’s not saying, “Shut up. That’s stupid,” which is what Rick would say. He’s listening. But past she sees Rick astatine the formation and she runs to him. That’s what she wants. She wants to beryllium the seer, not the seen. And Saxon is trying to spot her successful his ain mode and beryllium seen by her and that is existent intimacy and she can’t bash that. Saxon is specified an absorbing character. At archetypal helium thinks helium conscionable wants to slumber with her, but really helium genuinely is moved by her and changed by her. That could person possibly turned into something, but Chelsea wants the sieve, she wants to determination down the plug hole. She wants a harder task ... and that’s Rick.

“Saxon is specified an absorbing character. At archetypal helium thinks helium conscionable wants to slumber with her, but really helium genuinely is moved by her and changed by her,” said Aimee Lou Wood astir Patrick Schwarzenegger’s character.

(Fabio Lovino / HBO)

We cognize precise small astir Chelsea, but that she’s a erstwhile yoga teacher and is an astrology girly. Did you travel up with a backstory for her?

I ever loved the mode Chelsea was, like, “Rick’s truthful mysterious.” She’s truthful mysterious. There’s that infinitesimal with her and Chloe connected the vessel wherever she says, “Why is it ever astir his pain, his feelings? I person feelings too. Bad things person happened to me.” Chelsea and Rick are akin successful the consciousness that Chelsea is moving away. She’s adventurous and she’s impulsive. I had a batch of worldly successful my caput for Chelsea that was besides truly personal. Me and Walton decidedly deliberation that she saw Rick astatine a bar, she approached him. And they’ve been conscionable traveling astir ever since.

Tell maine astir the creation of dying on-screen. You knew this would beryllium a large moment. What was your attack to the reveal?

It was truthful weird. I couldn’t die. I was like, I can’t go. I couldn’t bring myself to fto Chelsea die. My instinct was to combat for my beingness and that’s wherefore I emotion that Mike took the words away. Originally, she was going to [speak] astir things happening successful threes and helium took that distant to fto her conscionable beryllium soundless for the archetypal time. Rick sees her — due to the fact that words are her armor — and each of a abrupt that’s each gone. She can’t speak. So helium conscionable has to look astatine her successful her purest signifier and helium sees her and helium loves her. But it was truthful hard listening to Walton getting truthful upset. I conscionable wanted to get up and go, “No, I’m here!” It was weird, arsenic soon arsenic helium picked maine up, I was like, “I tin dice now.” This is what Chelsea wants. He’s yet doing the labour for them. She’s done it all, she’s carried him and present he’s carrying her. But it’s a truly aggravated happening to do, particularly erstwhile you’ve got Walton crying. And I deliberation you tin spot that there’s a teardrop falling retired of my oculus astatine that spot due to the fact that I was having to perceive to it and I wasn’t capable to respond. How tragic for Chelsea that the clip that Rick yet says each this stuff, she can’t accidental thing back.

Even as he’s carrying you and gets shot, you some tumble into the water. I ideate that’s immoderate choreography you person to support successful caput arsenic you’re successful that headspace. Did it necessitate a batch of takes?

It was hard for Walton due to the fact that helium was having to transportation maine successful connected the hottest time of the full shoot. We were some covered successful sweat by the extremity of it. The stunt coordinators were talking to maine astir however it takes a batch of spot to fto idiosyncratic conscionable transportation you and past autumn with you. I was conscionable gone and it was him doing each the work. He did that locomotion truthful galore times. It felt similar the cleanable ending due to the fact that Rick had to hustle for Chelsea, finally. He had to bash it each by himself due to the fact that she wasn’t determination to assistance him. I conscionable loved being the value helium had to carry. Sorry, babe. Sorry.

Before I fto you go, is determination a monkey communicative that you person to share? Because they truly delivered connected their performances this season.

I did not spot 1 monkey! I was truthful disappointed. I was truthful excited and acceptable to beryllium like, “I’m gonna beryllium walking down and there’s gonna beryllium one.” None. Zero. Millions of lizards but nary monkeys. So erstwhile I saw them successful the show, that was the archetypal clip I’d ever seen those actors. It was truthful disappointing to the constituent that I thought they were CGI. And they were like, “No, Aimee, those are existent monkeys.”