Aimee Lou Wood has been front and centre in 2025, with the actress undoubtedly the breakout star of The White Lotus season three.
And from her candid words about her White Lotus filming experience and the ‘fallout’ speculation with co-star Walton Goggins, to the ongoing narrative around her teeth and her surprisingly famous sister, the 31-year-old has been all anyone can talk about.
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This week, it was her White Lotus friendships that made headlines, as Wood came to the online defence of her friend and co-star Patrick Schwarzenegger.
The actor, also 31, starred in the series as Saxton Ratliff, with his performance receiving praise across the board. However, being the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, the internet has been fixated on his A-list parents. And with Schwarzenegger labelled a “nepo baby” online, some have even questioned whether it was his powerful family connections that bagged him the role.
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This is something that Schwarzenegger has addressed, opening up about the repo baby narrative during an appearance on the ‘Real Pod’ podcast, earlier this year.
“[There’ll be] people that are like ‘oh, he only got the role because his dad’s in the industry’. There’ll be other people that’ll say, ‘well, I wonder what his dad paid to get him that job?’”, Schwarzenegger recalled. “What am I going to do? Convince all those people that that’s not true? It’s just such a waste of my energy.”
The actor continued: “I’m never, ever going to convince everybody out there that I work hard, that I have my own values in life, that I want to make my own name for myself – that I don’t do drugs, that I’m not a screw-up, that I’m not a bad, mean person, that I’m not all these different things. You’re never going to convince [them] and everyone’s always going to have their opinion of you, no matter what.”
Page Six posted a video clip from the podcast this weekend, as the debate resurfaced. And Wood was quick to stand by her friend and former co-star, sharing the video alongside the caption: “hardest working and kindest man ever.”
“I always say that I think he was my dad in a past life, because I just immediately feel so safe with him,” Wood recently explained of Schwarzenegger at the Met Gala, via E! News. “He’s the safest, kindest person, he’s so solid, you just can’t feel nervous or scared when Patrick’s around. He’s just, honestly, the most pure person, I can’t describe it.”
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“I know there are people who’ll say I only got this role because of who my dad is,” Schwarzenegger previously explained to The Sunday Times. “They’re not seeing that I’ve had 10 years of acting classes, put on school plays every week, worked on my characters for hours on end or the hundreds of rejected auditions I’ve been on.”
He continued: “Of course, it’s frustrating and you can get boxed in and you think at that moment, I wish I didn’t have my last name. But that’s a small moment.
“I would never trade my life with anyone,” he added. “I’m very fortunate to have the life and family that I have, the parents I have and the lessons and values they’ve instilled in me.”
We will continue to update this story.