On Sunday, the last episode of the third season of The White Lotus aired to mixed reviews. But despite a lukewarm reaction to the series – and no spoilers, in case you still haven’t seen it yet – there’s one thing everyone is in agreement on: Aimee Lou Wood is a star who needs to be protected at all costs.

After her breakout role in Sex Education, The White Lotus has been one of the 31-year-old’s biggest roles. But, aside from enthralling viewers with her acting as the magnetic Chelsea, the fan favourite has been making headlines for how she looks. And while that’s (sadly) predictable for a woman in the public eye, in a world of filters and Facetune, I think the conversation her turn in the show is creating around natural beauty can only be a good thing.

In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Aimee declared herself to be ‘anti-Botox’. ‘I saw these women yesterday, it was these women who do Botox,’ she told the magazine. ‘We were talking about how it’s obvious I haven’t had it. I’m like very anti-Botox, people can do whatever they want but for myself […] a lot of my career relies on these facial expressions. So I can’t start freezing my face, it needs to move.’

It’s a stance similar to that of complete legend Sarah Jessica Parker, who isn’t against other people getting Botox – but has said she wouldn’t get it herself as she needs to move her eyebrows as an actor. ‘I’m meant to be sharing emotions and communicating with my face,’ the 60-year-old told The Telegraph. She also pointed out the obvious, which still needs to be pointed out: men are never subject to the same discussions or intrusive questions about ageing. ‘I am so confused by the fact that the majority of men my age are simply never asked about ageing,’ she added. ‘We all wake up, have a million things going on, and just need to get on with our days – I just don’t understand the emphasis that is placed on the pondering of ageing.’

Like Aimee and SJP, I am not against anyone getting cosmetic surgery, Botox or whatever-incredible-new-injectable-treatment-is-changing-the-world. Of course, what you do to your face is personal choice. (And being honest, as I’m 27, it’s a choice I can’t promise I’m going to opt out of as I get older.) But I do think it’s bold not to succumb to the pressure of tweakments, even more so when you’re an actress beamed onto millions of TV screens across the world.

One friend said she noticed Aimee hadn’t had any work done when she was watching the show, and while she said she liked the fine lines on Aimee’s forehead, she said she didn’t know whether she’d feel comfortable having them herself – even though she doesn’t like getting Botox. And that’s exactly why it’s so important to see women who look their age in glossy dramas. Our natural faces shouldn’t be seen as shameful or abnormal. And we shouldn’t feel like we have to prod ourselves with needles as soon as the threat of a wrinkle starts to gently take root on our foreheads.

But it’s hard not to feel that way, when tweakments are so accessible you can get them on your lunch break, and everywhere you look you’re greeted with faces bare of any lines, let alone emotion. Kim Kardashian – the mother of unattainable beauty standards – has quipped on The Kardashians she’s worried about not being able to move her face as an actress thanks to Botox. And even in fiction there’s no escape, following the film release, I’ve just re-read Bridget Jones Mad About The Boy – there’s a passage dedicated to Bridge getting Botox after peer pressure (obviously, in typical Bridget-style, it goes tits up and her mouth becomes frozen).

Aimee and SJP might say they need to move their faces for their job, but certainly not all actors opt to go Botox free. (And many names like Courteney Cox have also shared their regret over past Botox.) Acting is a fierce, brutal industry, where women are often pitted against each other. One friend, who recently graduated from drama school, tells me there’s an expectation to get work done – but with one caveat, it must look natural. ‘You have to be beautiful,’ she says, ‘but most importantly, castable.’ But, this friend says, as numerous women in her school year had their teeth fixed by Invisalign while they were training, it’s most refreshing that Aimee has kept her teeth the way they are, slightly gappy with an overbite.

And speaking as someone who spent the entirety of my teenage years with plastic blocks stuck onto retainers which were trying to push forward my lower jaw, I’ve got to agree. Take it from me: fixing an overbite is painful, and time consuming. To see someone who has opted to not go through that process – and still look bloody gorgeous – is rebellious. Her teeth are something I know teenage me would have loved to see on screen, instead of yet another set of creepily white, straight veneers.

Understandably, Aimee is getting a bit tired of the conversation around her teeth, and as I’m writing this piece she told GQ, ‘it makes me a bit sad because I’m not getting to talk about my work’. Like queen SJP, she also made the point it’s unlikely we’d be having this much of a conversation about it if she was a man, which is undoubtedly true. But with the love everyone has for Aimee, she’s only going to become a bigger star, getting booked in more and more huge shows. An effect of her transparency is hopefully more women, on and off screen, will also feel they can be celebrated for being themselves; braces, filler or not.