Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood have teamed up to put any further rumours that they’re feuding to bed once and for all.
In a joint interview with Variety, The White Lotus stars spoke candidly about the first time they met, what it was like living on set in Thailand, the infamous Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketch and, of course, the wayward rumour which began when fans noticed that Goggins had unfollowed Wood on social media.
Below, here is everything they said about the rumours, SNL and their relationship now.
The feud rumours
While The White Lotus season three was wrapping up, the stars found themselves at the centre of online rumours. After noticing that Goggins had unfollowed Wood on Instagram, fans started to theorise that they had beef — or had an affair that went wrong.
Both of them have since attempted to quash the rumours, but this is the first time they’ve combated them together.
“There is no feud. I adore, I love this woman madly, and she is so important to me,” he asserts.
“This is Goldie Hawn. This is Meg Ryan. She can do anything, and she will. You watch what the next 20 years of her experience will be. I’ll be on an island, I think Greece. But she’s special. There is no feud. She is love, and I know that I am that to her. We care about each other very deeply.”
For Wood, the whole feud drama was a wild ride. At first, she says she tried to bring the conversation back to the show and their characters, but after the whispers grew to shouts, she just let it happen.
“Eventually, I just started to sit back and watch these people making something out of absolutely nothing,” she said.
“I think it’s such a comment on where we’re at culturally. Why is everyone obsessing over Instagram? That is irrelevant. We don’t give a shite about Instagram. Why not have conversations about the story and Rick and Chelsea and enjoy it?”
While the rumours were running rampant online, Goggins had an interview with The Times of London in which a journalist asked him straight up. He didn’t particularly like that line of questioning when Wood wasn’t present.
“What am I gonna do, speak for both of us? Never,” he said, noting that the journalist asked him about Wood multiple times — including once about whether the pair bonded over their teeth.
“What he was insinuating, it was so disgusting,” Goggins said.
“It was so appalling. I was flabbergasted. And I said, ‘Fuck mate, wow. I think we’re done here’.”
Why Walton Goggins unfollowed Aimee Lou Wood
Admittedly, Goggins did unfollow his beloved co-star, but he assures that there wasn’t any malice involved — it’s just part of his creative process.
“If I may add, just to put this to bed? The following or unfollowing. I’m a grown-ass man,” he said.
“When I left Justified, I went up to Tim Olyphant, and I hugged him and I said, ‘I love you, and I hope I see you in rooms for the rest of my life’. I didn’t talk to him for almost two years. I’ve done that with every single thing that I’ve done.”
Aside from needing separation from his characters in his usual process, The White Lotus was especially poignant for Goggins. Back in 2004, he’d lost his wife to suicide. He spent the next few years soul searching overseas and spent time in Bangkok, Thailand. He says when he landed in Thailand to start filming for The White Lotus, it was quite confronting.
“My catharsis in this experience was different than other people’s, because of my history in this place. I knew what we had gone through, and I knew how close that we had gotten, and I needed to begin to process saying goodbye to Rick and Chelsea.
“I knew that that was going to take a while for me, so I let her know, this is what I’ve gotta do. And she was extremely supportive about that.
“I needed to just back away from everyone. I haven’t spoken to anyone. I couldn’t handle it. Judge me or don’t. I don’t give a fuck what you think. This is my process. Rick means everything to me, and Chelsea means everything to me. And so that’s what I needed to do for me to process all of this.”
During the interview, Goggins grabbed his phone and followed Wood.
“It’s all so ridiculous. It’s just a part of me just saying goodbye to this character so that now Aimee and I will be friends for fucking ever,” he said.
The infamous SNL sketch — and why Walton reshared it on socials
Back in April, Saturday Night Live (SNL) did a sketch which parodied The White Lotus called The White POTUS. While most characters were based on American political figures, Wood’s character, Chelsea, was included with some noticeably exaggerated teeth.
Wood didn’t find the parody very funny, sharing her thoughts on the sketch on her Instagram Stories shortly after.
“This is an important moment for me, because what I would usually do is see it and turn the anger inward. I thought, I’m just gonna say it, so I don’t spiral,” she said, noting that the sketch “felt misogynistic. It felt like the punch line was a woman’s appearance, which is just not funny. It’s not cool.”
Meanwhile, Goggins had just woken up, seen Jon Hamm‘s portrayal of his character Rick, and thought it was kind of spot on. He shared his praise for the sketch on his Stories — until he heard about Wood’s thoughts on the sketch. He felt awful and quickly deleted his post.
“Then the next day, I made a vicious swipe against my friend? I’ve been posting for 14 fucking years, and if I’m gonna say something, but I’m gonna say it to your face,” he says.
“I don’t use social media in any way, and I’m not a mean guy. That’s the story.”
As for the criticism for Goggins to host SNL the following week? Wood thought it was ridiculous.
“I was so upset when people said that,” Wood said.
“For fuck’s sake, of course Walton should do SNL. That’s got nothing to do with me. He’s fucking had a career for, like, how long?”
“70 years,” quipped Goggins.
So, there you have it, folks. Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood are not feuding. In reality, their time as Chelsea and Rick has created a pretty strong, emotionally-laden bond, and they just needed a break.
Fair enough, tbh!
You can read the full Variety interview HERE.
The post Walton Goggins & Aimee Lou Wood Smack Down Feud Rumours & Explain That IG Unfollow appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
