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Renée Zellweger’s New Look: Actress Explains Why Her Face Has Changed

By Treva Bowdoin
Published on: 23:54 PST, Oct 21, 2014

Renée Zellweger’s new look caused a huge reaction on social media — her name trended on Twitter for hours as users tried to figure out why her face looks drastically different.

Renée’s almost-unrecognizable face went viral after she stepped out at Elle magazine’s 21st annual Women in Hollywood Awards, and her new look sparked speculation that she has used Botox or cosmetic surgery to alter her appearance. As the Inquisitr previously reported, plastic surgeons have even weighed in to offer their expert opinions on which procedures Renée Zellweger has possibly undergone. However, Zellweger contends that her new look is simply the result of a healthy lifestyle change.

The Bridget Jones’s Diary star talked to People magazine about why she looks like a completely different person than she did a few years ago.

“I’m glad folks think I look different! I’m living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I’m thrilled that perhaps it shows.”

Renée Zellweger explained that she decided to address the buzz about her appearance because “it seems the folks who come digging around for some nefarious truth which doesn’t exist won’t get off my porch until I answer the door.”

Zellweger revealed that her old look was the result of poor lifestyle choices and her attempts to hide the negative effects those choices had on her appearance.

“I took on a schedule that is not realistically sustainable and didn’t allow for taking care of myself. Rather than stopping to recalibrate, I kept running until I was depleted and made bad choices about how to conceal the exhaustion. I was aware of the chaos and finally chose different things.”

The 45-year-old actress revealed that she’s perfectly healthy, and she said that her friends say that she looks “peaceful.”

“Perhaps I look different. Who doesn’t as they get older?! Ha. But I am different. I’m happy.”

Unfortunately for Renée, Twitter users don’t care that she looks healthy — they just can’t stop buzzing about how different she looks.

However, there were plenty of Twitter users who defended Renée Zellweger against the ugly comments about her new look.

Body image expert Dr. Robyn Silverman told Yahoo! Style that it’s a no-win situation for actresses when it comes to getting older in Hollywood — aging stars get shamed “when their appearance starts to deviate from the high standards set by society and Hollywood,” but they also get criticized if they try to combat the effects of aging using plastic surgery, fillers or Botox. And if Renée Zellweger is telling the truth about why she looks so different, she’s being shamed for something that she didn’t even do.

Silverman described the impossible standard that society sets for celebrities like Renée.

“Society seems to demand a forever-young appearance by way of zero effort and freakish genetics.”

What do you think of the backlash to Renée Zellweger’s new look?

[Images via MTV UK, Heckler Spray]

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