The White Lotus’s Chelsea Could’ve Only Saved Herself

ABLUpdated 2 weeks Ago7 Mins read3

Spoilers follow for The White Lotus season-three finale, “Amor Fati.”

While the standard White Lotus guest seems to be running away from something — anxiety, the pressures of fame, financial ruin — Aimee Lou Wood’s Chelsea appears markedly content. A dedicated believer in astrology and the power of self-help books, the hopeful romantic’s certainty in her relationship allows her to move through the season with calm conviction as the other characters around her search for the wisdom she already seems to have.

Chelsea is so sure of her purpose, in fact, that in season-three finale “Amor Fati,” it leads her to death. That purpose comes in the form of Walton Goggins’s Rick, who is weighed down by a lifetime of trauma and a hardened certainty that vengeance is his only path to peace. Chelsea’s optimism in the face of his woes is part of what makes her so lovable, and for a moment in the finale, it seems she might have been right all along. Ultimately, though, Chelsea’s commitment to Rick and her hope for his peace are no match for Rick’s pain, and his impulses ignite a gunfight that catches Chelsea in its midst. Wood argues their story could not have ended any other way. “Everyone wants to save Chelsea, and I understand because she’s so lovable and childlike and curious and endearing,” Wood says. “But she could only have saved herself.”

How are you doing?
It feels genuinely like I have to grieve. It’s taken up such a big part of our lives, and I think we’re all learning how to hold it all. Sunday night we all watched and I saw Patrick’s hand come over to hold mine and Charlotte’s, and we were just sobbing. Patrick said, “I don’t know how we’re expected to speak at a panel right now.” The love that we all have for each other … it feels like it’s the end of an era, which is emotional enough. Never mind what happens in the bloody story.

You’re grieving both the characters and the experience of it all.
Exactly! And I’m fully grieving because she dies! It’s so overwhelming. Thank God I’m not going back to film anything. I’m going to have a break. I think I just need to process it.

How early did you know that Chelsea was going to die?
I knew before I was officially given the part. The scenes for my first audition were the one where Chelsea says, “Rick, you need to get a facial,” and then the one where she says, “Scorpio. So secretive.” Then for my callback, I did the scene where they sit at the restaurant and she says, “I think we’re going to be together forever, don’t you?” And he says, “That’s the plan.” I didn’t have the rest of the script, I didn’t have any of the context, but in my gut, I knew. I was so upset. I was so emotional that Mike then knew that I knew.

How did that affect the way you approached her, especially in the scenes where she’s doing so much foreshadowing?
I kind of successfully compartmentalized. I was like, I have to not know now because Chelsea doesn’t know. I have to forget. It’s actually kind of easy to do when you’re playing Chelsea because she’s so present.

Who do you see Chelsea as outside of Rick, and outside of the relationship that ultimately kills her?
She’s got massive addictive qualities and she’s impulsive and she is highly self-destructive. She has such a strong unconscious drive and she can’t save herself. It’s clever how Mike’s created this very complicated character because her spirituality and all of that stuff puts people off the scent. Her words are her armor. She’s got so many mottos, so many mantras, so many things to say about the zodiac. But in that moment when she’s been shot and she can’t speak and she’s silent for the first time, she doesn’t have anything to say. Rick sees her fully because her armor is gone. He looks at her and he realizes how much he loves her.

People are always like, “Someone should have done something. Someone should have stopped her,” which we say about all these tragic heroines. I get annoyed when they are painted out to be victims. They were very strong, tenacious women. And that is what Chelsea is — she is very, very tenacious, if she’d have channeled her tenacity in a different direction, she could’ve taken over the world.

When did you actually film Chelsea’s death? How did you prepare?
We knew it was coming for quite a while, and it was just over halfway through filming. I was trying not to think about it. Walton could kind of think about it because Rick’s death drive is so strong anyway. He’s made his pain his God, so he could kind of sit in the darkness in a way that I wasn’t permitted to do because Chelsea is not like that. Chelsea made the relationship her God. She’s repressing and denying. And so I, as Aimee, had to repress and deny, which then meant it was coming out sideways. For the two weeks before we were filming the death, I was texting my friends going, “I look so old.” It was kind of mad. I was sending ’em pictures and I was going, “Do my eyes look different? Why have I aged 30 years since I left?” And thank God my friend, who’s training to be a therapist, was like, “Do you think it might be that you’re about to film some fit?” I also got this obsession with Amy Winehouse. I was already obsessed with her and I always have been, but it became chronic. I just wanted to listen to her. And it was like, of course, because Chelsea is a love addict. She’s in an addictive relationship and they’re both self-destructive.

How specific was the choreography for that scene?
It was so intricate. It took a long time and it was bloody hot. It was the hottest day of the whole shoot. And it felt so right that it was the hottest day of the shoot because Rick had to carry Chelsea. He had to do the most labor after she’s carried them the whole time. Walton had to carry me over and over again. The crew was laughing. At first they were worried that I was going to be scared. The stunt coordinator was like, “It’s going to take a lot of trust because Walton’s controlling the whole thing.” He’s going to act shot. He’s going to fall with us both. This chick [points to herself], I was like, Zen. As soon as he picked me up, I was completely floppy. I felt so chill. And people were laughing because it was just like Chelsea to think, I’ll be okay. Yeah, I won’t get hurt. I’m not scared. I just trusted Walton would look after me and he did.

How did you rehearse the fall into the water?
It was two really grueling days. We did that whole first sequence and fell onto a mat for that bit, and then we filmed the water stuff in a water tank. We spent the whole day in this water tank and it was hard work. They gave me the option, they were like, “Stunties can do this. It’s Rick’s face looking up, so it has to be Walton in the water. But Aimee —” and I was like, “No, I want to do it.” So I did it. I had to hold my breath for so long, and there would just be points where I would start to turn so we’d have to cut, or Walton would start to turn the other way and we’d have to cut again. It took the whole day and it was hard work, but it felt like we had to do it together. I can’t have Walton in the water with a stuntwoman.

Fabian fell into the water during that scene. Was that an accident or was that rehearsed?
That was rehearsed, but Christian is the best actor. He is one in a million, and it genuinely looked like he fell in an accident. That whole thing — it’s classic Mike. When Fabian falls and when the ladies are screaming, it’s so funny. But the gasp, when the camera turns and then fucking Chelsea’s on the floor with blood. God, it’s so Mike White, isn’t it?

What do you imagine Chelsea was seeing as she died?
I think at that moment, she doesn’t feel lonely. She feels connected to everything. If addiction is the opposite of connection, then in that moment everything’s connected for her. In a really fucked-up way, she’s proven herself so victorious because she said, “Bad things happen in threes. I will follow you into the next life. If something bad happens to you, Rick, it happens to me. We’re yin and yang.” All of this, and she’s proven it right to everyone. She’s seeing all of it.

Was there a moment where you almost gave away the secret?
There was one time when I did give away the secret and it was a complete accident. My best friend, who is also my flatmate, was going to use our washing machine and there were some stills that I’d forgotten to put away. I’d looked at these stills and cried because it was me and Walton, and it was Rick holding Chelsea and Chelsea bleeding out. So I come in and he’s like, “Aimee, are you fucking kidding? Oh my God.” God bless him, he’s been holding this in. He was with me last night at the screening and he knew it was coming, but he said he still didn’t believe it was going to happen. And I think that’s how everyone felt. There’s so many clues that it’s Chelsea, but people didn’t want to believe it.

Were there any scenes you filmed for Chelsea that were cut from the season?
Yeah, there were. Pretty much all of the Chelsea and Saxon stuff stayed in, but there was a scene that me and Walton loved of Rick and Chelsea. After Chelsea runs to Rick on the beach, there was going to be a scene where she goes into the room with Rick and she says, “Did you do anything bad? I have to know.” And he says, “I didn’t.” And she knows it’s true and she’s freed. And she says, “It’s my Saturn return this year, so it’s either going to be my worst year or my best year, but I have a feeling that it’s going to be the best.” And Rick says, “Yeah, me too.” And then he picks her up and puts her on the bed and they kiss and it’s a beautiful scene. But the moment they have at dinner, that’s her nirvana moment. If she has it twice, it’s just not going to hit as hard. I understood why it was taken away, but it was a gorgeous scene. It’s actually in the trailer. I would love for Mike to release the deleted scenes. There are so, so many deleted scenes!