Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood’s Sweetest Friendship Moments: From ‘The White Lotus’ and Beyond

Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood became close friends before playing love interests on The White Lotus.

The costars met on the season 3 set, after securing the roles of Rick and Chelsea, respectively. Despite the age gap between their characters, Goggins and Wood spoke fondly about the fictional couple’s bond.

“I think that’s such a cheap observation, the much younger girlfriend,” Goggins told The Telegraph in March 2025 about the nearly 20-year age difference between the pair. “That’s a waste of time and a distraction, to be quite honest with you.”

The White Lotus, which premiered in 2021, focuses on the guests and employees at a fictional resort as they experience a slew of personal ups and downs while on vacation. The anthology series is also known for featuring a mysterious murder — or two — that is eventually revealed at the end of each season.

While many tuned into season 3 for the star-studded cast, others were excited to watch Wood and Goggins bring a fictional romance to life. Imagine their surprise when Rick and Chelsea ultimately both died in the season finale.

“Chelsea has got so much s**t that she has not dealt with and healed and processed, and she looks outside for the answers all the time,” Wood told Bustle in April 2025. “The Zodiac, the spirituality books, the jargon, the aphorisms, the mantras. She hasn’t looked inside because she’s scared of what she’ll find in there. And so she says, ‘The thing that’s drawing me to Rick is fate.’ No, the thing that’s drawing her to Rick is some unhealed s**t.”

Goggins also weighed in on how his character’s downfall led to Wood’s onscreen death.

“In the depths of our despair there is always beauty around us,” he wrote via Instagram at the time. “If we can sit with our pain, just sit with it … not react … not be defined by it … It’s there … the love the world is constantly giving in any given moment is there. Always waiting for us to see it… Trust me I know.”

Amid the shocking finale, Goggins and Wood sparked feud speculation when eagle-eyed social media users noticed that they were no longer following each other on Instagram. Goggins and Wood, however, continued to publicly praise each other as costars.

Keep scrolling to see the sweetest moments from Goggins and Wood’s friendship before their onscreen deaths on The White Lotus:

August 2024

Goggins and Wood met on the set of The White Lotus, which filmed for several months in Thailand.

“Just wrapped. This is a suitcase of emotions I’ll be unpacking for quite sometime. This experience has been so many things. A privilege to feel this deep about anything in life … this one has its own category,” Goggins wrote via Instagram at the time. “Aimee … there’s not a day, an hour, a minute I’ll ever forget [you] friend. What a pleasure.”

August 2024

Wood offered another glimpse at her experience on the hit HBO show, writing via Instagram, “I’m so grateful that it was this very specific configuration of people, cast and crew, who lived out this huge, long, scary, hard, brilliant, overwhelming, maddening, singular, wonderful, terrifying and profound experience together. Wherever we go and whatever we do we will always have Thailand and each other in here ❤️!”

Goggins replied to the post, adding, “You are the brightest light in every room. A Humans Human. Miss you. 🦊🦊.”

February 2025

The third season premiered with an introduction to Chelsea and Rick’s unconventional love story. After starting off their getaway with two near-death experiences, Rick left Chelsea for a brief trip to Bangkok in an attempt to exact revenge on his father’s killer.

April 2025

At the end of the season, Chelsea and Rick died as a result of his revenge plan. “With the heaviest of hearts … To me, ours was a love story. It was only ever a love story, hindered by unresolved, childhood trauma,” Goggins captioned an Instagram tribute of their time together onscreen. “We all have them … but can we move past them.”

Goggins thanked Wood, adding, “For being my partner … a journey I will never forget.”

April 2025

While certain The White Lotus fans noticed that Goggins and Wood were no longer following each other, there were others who pointed out that the duo have publicly continued to compliment each other.

“I was sad that Walton wasn’t there because it was something that we did together but also it’s so f***ing Rick and Chelsea,” Wood told The Hollywood Reporter. “Like, of course Walton had to watch it alone and of course I had to watch it in the group because there is so much Aimee in Chelsea and so much Walton in Rick.”