Spoilers for The White Lotus season three finale ahead.

Of all the delusional characters on season three of The White Lotus, Aimee Lou Wood’s Chelsea is perhaps the most credulous. Especially when it comes to her unwavering belief in Rick, her sketchy, much older boyfriend (played by Walton Goggins), who has led her to Thailand on his selfish quest to make good on an old grudge. Speaking mostly in aphorisms about soulmates, astrology, and pop spirituality, the bright-eyed Chelsea stands in stark contrast to the eternally grumpy Rick. Her good intentions and affability, played up by Wood with a comedic wink, made her an instant fan favorite.

It was all the more tragic, then, when Chelsea’s instincts about death chasing her turned out to be true, as she gets caught in the crossfire of Rick’s revenge plot. In the finale, a poetic overhead shot of Chelsea and Rick’s lifeless bodies curled together like the yin and yang symbol references her own misguided desire to heal Rick with her love. But who are we to judge? Mike White’s wildly popular anthology series is a mirror for the fallibility of human nature, and this season, with its emphasis on death, rebirth, and spirituality, was perhaps his deepest (and most chaotic) yet.

The morning after the final episode, Wood spoke to W from Los Angeles, where she and the rest of the cast—including Patrick Schwarzenegger, Leslie Bibb, Charlotte Le Bon, and of course, Goggins—attended a special screening event of the season finale. Here, the 31-year-old Mancunian discusses the experience of witnessing Chelsea’s death in real time with the rest of the world, whether or not there’s a chance she and Rick will return, and what’s next.

How did you feel last night watching Chelsea’s death play out along with the rest of the world?

I didn’t think I was gonna be that overwhelmed. I hadn’t seen it. I watched it for the first time with everyone else. Patrick [Schwarzenegger] was crying, Charlotte [Le Bon] was crying, we were all sobbing. We did a panel afterwards, and we were all going, “How are we expected to do this? We are in shock.” It’s like watching someone I’m really close with die. It’s Saxon’s love for Chelsea, but also Patrick’s love for Aimee. Watching Sam [Nivola]…little Lochlan…I was sobbing. We’re close because of the format of the show—you don’t normally live with your castmates on set for that long. It’s like reality TV.

Was there a sense of relief that you no longer had to keep the secret?

When the secret was out, I thought I was going to be really relieved, but it was completely different. It felt so odd. Chelsea is so me, and I am so Chelsea, so it felt more personal. It also felt like a weird privilege that Chelsea’s gone. It’s like permission to release bits of her that could lead me to a similar fate, and keep the parts that I love and are great. It was a very visceral feeling in my body. I’d underestimated how much this was affecting me. People have been watching her every week—and she’s so linked to me. Her journey ended yesterday, and in a much more conclusive way than anyone else’s.

So there’s no chance she somehow survived and might come back?

Rick and Chelsea’s journey is concluded. We ain’t coming back for season four or five. Someone did say—and I loved this—“What if Chelsea lives on in Saxon’s head and becomes his spiritual guide?” That’d be great. But yeah, they’re done.

Why do you think Chelsea had to die?

She was a sacrificial lamb. Mike [White] doubted it so much during filming—he’d come up to me and say, “Have I made the right choice?” Like, kill your darlings, but is this too far? If Mike is expressing himself through these characters, I can understand why killing his hopeful, optimistic, romantic part was not nice and felt horrid. But narratively, I think it was right. The scene at dinner where Rick says, “That’s the plan,” [Chelsea] knows she’s got him. Whatever judgment people have on that, it’s a hugely profound moment. When in life does someone truly get exactly what they want? Your highest dream doesn’t happen a lot, so it’s hugely sad and cruel that it’s taken away from her so quickly.

They do end up together, in a way.

In a dark way, she does get to be with him forever. People are so angry with Rick for putting her in danger, but that girl walks straight into it with a haunting, weird calmness. It’s like Rick kills off the part of his consciousness that made him feel doomed by killing his father. But when Chelsea dies, his hope dies too. It’s so sad.

How much have you paid attention to the internet discourse around the show?

I’m such an English lit geek, so I love people analyzing the symbols and the metaphors. I also love psychoanalysis, so I love hearing the therapists doing sessions on each character. I’m an Esther Perel obsessive, and my favorite fan theories are people analyzing the shit out of all these relationships. People really idolize Chelsea. I get it because she’s so cracked open, but she’s very closed off as well. She uses astrology and spirituality as a block from true vulnerability. She’s made Rick her god and the relationship her god. She is actually a love addict. That’s essentially what signs her fate. She’s addicted to this relationship, and addiction is the opposite of connection. She does truly love him as well, but she’s scared of proper, intimate connection. When they do finally reach that, Rick can’t stay there, because he’s made his pain his god.

She definitely has a major impact on Saxon.

Saxon has made work, success, and money his god. But he shifts throughout the show, and he’s listening to Chelsea. He wants to integrate and internalize the things that she’s taught him. In a way, Saxon living on and being different is Chelsea living on.

Now that White Lotus is done, there are rumors you’ve been cast in the upcoming Beatles biopics—maybe as Pattie Boyd, George Harrison’s ex-wife.

I actually, genuinely don’t know. That would be—yeah. I can’t say, but no, I actually don’t know. I know that there is Pattie in it, but the scripts haven’t really been finished yet or anything.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being absolutely over it, how tired are you of people talking about your teeth?

I’m over it. Again, like with Saxon and Chelsea, it’s like, use what I’ve taught you. Internalize it now, guys! I love the people who say, “You’ve made me not want to pay for braces, or get a nose job, or Botox.” It’s beautiful that people feel they can be themselves and not look a certain way. But I’m like, can you all just internalize that lesson and live with it rather than shouting at me on the street, “I love your teeth!” Because that’s weird, actually. I never doubt it’s coming from a bad place. But it was the thing that defined me in school, my looks. That was the bullying, and now it’s defining me again. So, especially because of what happens to Chelsea in the show, I hope we can let that be the story. The work I did—that’s way more interesting than my teeth.