Aimee Lou Wood has described Los Angeles as "emotionally bulimic"

She told Harper's Bazaar magazine: "I find LA emotionally bulimic, and I say that as an ex-bulimic.

"It is this super-sized adventure where everyone's talking about you all the time and you have to talk about yourself all the time. And then I leave, and I want to throw it all up."

The White Lotus star has also struggled with body dysmorphia, which reared its head again during the third season of the hit HBO show when her character Chelsea had to appear in a bikini.

She recalled: "I shook myself out of it by thinking, 'It's not about whether Aimee wants to show her body or not - Chelsea does.' "

Aimee explained how her art is a "safe place" to work through her own emotions, which makes her grow more attached her certain roles.

She said: "Acting has always been a safe place for me to work out my feelings.

"I think for that reason a role will hit me in the heart, in the gut."

She admitted that was the case with Chelsea, as the line between them "started to blur" during an intense seven month shoot in Thailand.

Once filming wrapped, the Sex Education star struggled to move on right away.

She added: "I need to do rituals to shed a character. But if I say something like that to my mum and her friends, they'll reply, 'Oi, she's been in London for a bit too long, f****** hell...' "

Aimee - who was recently diagnosed with ADHD and autistic traits - recently found herself overwhelming on the sex of new movie Anxious People, with several crew members shouting instructions at her until she called for one direction from one person, with no one making hand movements at her.

She explained: "I've spent years feeling unable to say anything like that for fear of seeming argumentative - but now I feel like I can take ownership of what I need to thrive, and tell people what won't work for me."