Aimee Lou Wood says she was diagnosed with ADHD and autistic traits

By Charlotte McLaughlin, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter

Actress Aimee Lou Wood has said she was diagnosed with ADHD accompanied by autistic traits.

The Stockport-born star, 31, is known for HBO’s dark comedy The White Lotus and Netflix hit Sex Education.

Wood told The Sunday Times: “I got diagnosed a few years ago with ADHD with autistic traits.

“But then it’s been advised that I should go for an autism assessment.

“They think that maybe it’s autism that’s leading the charge, and the ADHD is almost a by-product of the masking.”

She is among those who have been diagnosed as neurodivergent after childhood, with British star Bella Ramsey recently revealing they learned they had autism after filming season one of apocalyptic HBO show The Last Of Us.

Wood said that she was “almost mute, very socially anxious”, and “couldn’t sit down and eat a meal” when she was a child.

She also told the paper that she felt “quite vulnerable after Sex Education”, because she felt she had more revealing naked scenes than other young actors.

However, the actress says she was not concerned by her intimate scenes with The White Lotus, because she had “really helpful chats” with her fellow actresses that made her feel “less alone”.

Wood said: “When I was younger and I was dealing with my eating stuff, it was my worst nightmare to get my body out.

“But I’d worked through that stuff — and then I was back to covering up.

“I look back and there was so much in the way that I started to desexualise myself.

“Sometimes you just want to put on a sexy dress and be a siren, but I denied myself that.”

Wood has also been starred in the BBC comedy series Daddy Issues and played Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret in 2023, for which she won the award for best takeover performance at the 2024 WhatsOnStage Awards.