Renee Zellweger attributes her new look to a ‘fulfilling life’: disingenuous?

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About a year ago, Renee Zellweger had significant, noticeable work done to her face. She’d obviously had some kind of eye lift, which may have been medically necessary. Some of you commented at the time that she may have needed the surgery to correct eyelid droopiness. Whatever the reason, you could definitely see the difference in her face. Here’s a before and after photo we posted at the time.

reneez

Renee laid low for about a year. We saw the occasional photo of her out with her boyfriend (a musician and old college friend named Doyle Bramhall II, they’ve been together around two years now) and she would attend a rare event, but she stayed under the radar. Then Renee went to the Elle Women in Hollywood event over the weekend. Everyone was like “woah she looks like a different person.” Instead of admitting to doing something to change her appearance, Renee told People that she’s happy and more fulfilled and we must be noticing that.

“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,” Zellweger, 45, says of the attention she received after an appearance at the Elle Women in Hollywood Awards in Beverly Hills on Monday.

Calling the conversation about her appearance “silly,” she says she is choosing to address it 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.”

“My friends say that I look peaceful. I am healthy,” Zellweger continues. “For a long time I wasn’t doing such a good job with that. 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.”

That healthier, slower-paced lifestyle – and her happy relationship with boyfriend Doyle Bramhall – helped her turn a corner. “I did work that allows for being still, making a home, loving someone, learning new things, growing as a creative person and finally growing into myself,” she says.

“People don’t know me in my 40s,” says Zellweger, who prefers to lead a quiet life with Bramhall and a close circle of friends. Recently, she pitched in to help her pal and longtime publicist, Nanci Ryder, who is battling ALS, at the ALS Association Golden West Chapter’s annual Walk to Defeat ALS in Los Angeles.

“People don’t know me [as] healthy for a while,” says Zellweger. “Perhaps I look different. Who doesn’t as they get older?! Ha. But I am different. I’m happy.”

[From People]

Renee did lose weight in the past few months, and that contributes to her face looking thinner, but give me a break. People aren’t “digging around for some nefarious truth,” they’re noticing that she looks nothing like herself. This is a Jennifer Grey level of plastic surgery change.

I like Zellweger so I’m not going to parse her defensive word salad too much, but she sounds like Ashley Judd here. “Rather than stopping to recalibrate, I kept running until I was depleted and made bad choices about how to conceal the exhaustion.” Is she referring to a visit a dermatologist as a “bad choice”? Is that a vague hint? Renee is a very private person, but if she would have admitted that she had something done, maybe that it was medically necessary, she would sound more genuine. She could remain vague and say she’s not ready to get into specifics. Instead, it’s all everyone else’s fault for noticing and Renee has gotten older and taken time to “recalibrate,” resulting in her eyes magically changing shape. I’m disappointed. It’s great that she’s in a good place now, though. She seems happy with her boyfriend with the giant ‘fro.

Here are comparison photos of Renee. This isn’t from weight loss. It’s a shame because she was beautiful. She still is, she’s just much different looking.
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209 Responses to “Renee Zellweger attributes her new look to a ‘fulfilling life’: disingenuous?”

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  1. Matty says:

    More like a filler-full life.

    • What? says:

      Maybe a little eye lid flap removal but, the only real difference I see on the split screen comparisons is her eyebrows are not colored in.

      • Fran says:

        Yes, me too. I wish the critics would leave her alone. Hollywood is a bitch and she is a survivor. And her hair is very long which makes her face look thinner.

      • m says:

        She had something done to her eyelids so she no longer has a squint and her eyebrows are different. That’s it. And she looks good, its no as if she went overboard and completey screwed up her face.

      • Jax says:

        In fairness, I doubt she had the eyejob from choice. She has very deep set eyes, just as Brad Pitt does. When those lids start loosening and sagging they droop right into the eye. It is very hard for them NOT to have something done about it, but if too much is removed it completely changes the look of their eye. Brad is putting his off as long as possible. Renee jumped in. In a couple of years she will probably look more like herself, as nature continues to work on her eyes. Hollywood is hell for aging women.

    • QQ says:

      OOP! filler, peel, overexercise, eye job…..

      At least Joan Rivers kept it real, man! This BS explanation is almost more dissapointing than the whole face overhaul

      • SunnySide says:

        Did they do a fingerprint comparison to verify this is actually Renee Zellweger? If I was security on the red carpet I’d send her on her way because she is unrecognizable.

    • denisemich says:

      She had an eye job and a lot of peels.

    • joan says:

      When you compare feature to feature, the only thing that’s changed is the eyes, unless I missed something. She does look different; before she squinted her eyes, not she squints her mouth.

    • Katey says:

      She so OBVIOUSLY had a blepharectomy. She had hooded eyes before and now clearly does not. Her surgeon removed a large section of her upper eyelid to give her more of an open-eye look. It just changed her face so much that it’s throwing us all off.

    • Rose says:

      She may have had an upper eyelid blepharoplasty, and it may have been medically necessary. Everything else looks like a walk-away from fillers, etc.
      Jeez…I think she looks great; that she put on a tiny bit of weight, and doesn’t use Botox.

      • RocketMerry says:

        Agreed, I think she’s not using fillers anymore, and that looks great. The blepharoplasty may settle in in a few months and leave her looking a bit more like herself; I keep forgetting that this might have been necessary for medical reasons. For now, this looks good, and I’m glad she’s happier.
        Team Renee.

    • Lauren says:

      I think she looks beautiful, and much better now than with the droopy lids and sagging cheeks. Sorry…

  2. Mia4S says:

    Annnnd this is what I was afraid of. You’ve had work, it’s obvious, that’s your right. If you lie about it don’t feed us some empowerment BS. You’re ashamed.

    This is very troubling.

    • Mia V. says:

      Yeah, if you wanna look better (in this case plastic), own it! Go out there and say “yes, i had some stuff done, mind your damn business”, or say nothing, just don’t try to sound like a marthyr, leave this do Goop.

    • OhDear says:

      It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t, though. If she admits to getting plastic surgery, then people will be on her case for being fake and inauthentic, buying into the Hollywood crap, etc. – just look at how people responded to Frances McDonald saying that older women in Hollywood getting PS makes her full of “fear and rage.” If she doesn’t admit it, then people will be on her case for not being honest about it. And if she doesn’t get the surgery, then people will still be saying that she looks like she’s “perpetually sucking a lemon,” among other comments about her perceived lack of physical attractiveness.

      • snowflake says:

        yeah. if you let yourself grow old, you’re ragged on. but if you try to fight it, you’re screwed too. none of anyone’s business if she did anything anyway. up to her if she wants to reveal it or not

    • DrM says:

      She must think we’re blind. If Renee said “I felt like a change” or something equally vague but not fibbing then people would have had a good goss and it would have died down. This is truly ridiculous as an explanation.

  3. JKL says:

    What a crock of sh-t. Honestly.

  4. Zapp Brannigan says:

    if original recipe Renee Z had a baby with Christina Applegate this is what the kid would look like.

    • Sparkly says:

      I see that! I was actually thinking she looks like an odd blend of Juliette Lewis and Robin Wright (<– mostly the profile, I think).

  5. Dani2 says:

    Lies and fallacies. If this is what a “fulfilled life” looks like, then I don’t want it.

  6. Christin says:

    Her giant word salad and calling people silly for noticing isn’t going to help matters. She is completely different looking. Maybe it is just an eye lift, weight change and aging.

  7. Jaderu says:

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

    Something about this tells me that she knows. She knows that we know and she doesn’t care.
    The “Ha” part seems like an acknowledgement that she had work done but isn’t going to discuss it.

    • serena says:

      I think she cares, a lot, or she wouldn’t even have answered at all about this matter.

    • qwerty says:

      This is not a face of someone who doesn’t care.

    • Christin says:

      Surely she realizes that posing in public with a significantly different looking face will create commentary. So will bolting from a marriage within four months and allegedly citing fraud as the reason.

      She seems harmless, but one thing I have never understood is her desire for privacy (which is nothing new) coupled with these over the top things she has done.

  8. Loopy says:

    Nicole Kidman still takes the cake, she said she looks different because she wears sun screen and doesn’t smoke. smh

    • Eileen says:

      I agree with you and the egregious thing about her is I’ve seen pictures of her smoking to boot

    • Jessica says:

      To be fair, she said that a couple of years before she really ramped up the plastic surgery. When she said it she’d had that unfortunate lip implant and she had a little botox in her forehead, but she was still mostly natural and she looked good. It went down-hill after those comments.

    • taxi says:

      I gave the cake to Oprah, who attributed her much narrower nose & smaller nostrils to “weight loss.”

  9. Div says:

    Wasn’t her mother Saami? I think it’s a bit sad that she tried to change her eyes from being “ethnic”.

    • Lotta says:

      I think she is partly kven and not sami. I’m half sami but my eyes are not hooded, my husband however has the hooded eyes.

    • AntiSocialButterfly says:

      She totally had an Asian ( “double-lid”) blepharoplasty. And FWIW, filler cheeks & way too much botox that dropped her eyebrows. Pffft.

      What’s that smell? Smells suspiciously like pants on fire to me.

      • Esmom says:

        Yes, her eyes look like those of an Asian woman I know who had that done. But as for the botox, I though the effect would be pulling your eyebrows up and back, a la Kidman. I can always tell when she lightens up on the botox because her brows tend to drop downward.

      • Catherine says:

        @ Esmom, With botox, if a load is injected into the muscles just above the brows it freezes them and then the person can’t raise their eyebrows. It also has the effect of making the lids droop. This is obviously temporary and does wear off. A very obvious sign of someone with botox use is a smooth forehead, softened lines round the eyes, and droopy eyelids. I’m not sure about Kidman (though I’m sure she’s had a brow lift) but it may be the other way round: her brows drop when she’s had a load of injections.

        If Renee has had her eyes done, then this has been counteracted, but is probably why her eyebrows look like they’ve dropped.

        I don’t blame her at all for having anything done, it obviously bothered her, it’s just disappointing to me she hasn’t admitted to it.

      • pretty says:

        she totally did not do the surgery Asians do. I am Korean. I myself have done the double eyelid surgery and have seen plenty of korean celebrities’ before and after pictures and it is different. When Asians do it, you literally create a crease with a knife, Renne did more like a lift cause she obviously already HAD a crease, it was just hidden under the hood. Asians mostly don’t even have a crease to begin with.

      • Belle Epoch says:

        I don’t understand the whole medical reason/eyelid discussion. She squinted at cameras during photo ops, but her eyes looked fine in Bridget Jones – wide open, not “hooded” or unusual in any way. You don’t need surgery to correct squinting.

        Pants flaming.

      • AntiSocialButterfly says:

        @Pretty,

        When a standard blepharoplasty is performed, the excess skin is excised:
        http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2840922/
        (feel free to skip ahead to figure 3)

        V.

        http://www.asianeyelid.com/faq.html ; http://www.asianeyelid.com/article.html
        The second article specifies surgical technique.

        The takeaway I hope to impart is both what you describe as a ‘lift’, and the double crease surgery I cite is most likely, is that *both* require excision of tissue, as do ALL ‘lift’ surgeries, body part irrelevant.

        Further, non-Asian people (of arctic circle origin, like the Samis) can have a similar epicanthic fold.

      • Someonestolemyname says:

        Traveling around Scandanvia it’s quite interesting to see all the Nordic blondes men and women with those similar eyes to Renee.
        It’s quite common and looks stunning.
        Renee is Nordic, Norwegian background.
        It’s sad to see she removed what made her look unique in Hollywood.

      • Kiddo says:

        Someonestolemyname, I think she’s Swiss.

      • Tiffany :) says:

        Belle Epoch, Bridget Jones was over a decade ago.
        How can you look at the photos above from January 2013 and 2012 and say her eyes are not hooded in anyway? Her eyes are barely visible in those photos!

      • Belle Epoch says:

        OK I finally get it. Someone mentioned Salman Rushdie, whose eyes were very heavy-lidded – NOT Renee’s issue at all. But “hooded” seems to mean deeply inset, so no lids are visible at all. I have seen examples of that surgery that completely transformed the appearance of Asian women.

      • Someonestolemyname says:

        Well the Norwegians told me she was Norwegian background?

  10. HH says:

    GIRL, BYE!

  11. Guesto says:

    I still think the eye surgery accounts for the changed look. That and weightloss and probably a bit of botox and natural ageing. And if she had her eye surgery for corrective purposes, then I don’t see why she should feel obliged to tell the world about it.

    Also, and more importantly, we don’t know what goes on in people’s lives as far as their health is concerned so no, I don’t really think she’s being disingenuous here, just refusing to feed interest in what she sees as her private business.

    And I’m glad she’s happy. She deserves it.

    • feebee says:

      +1 to everything.

    • Hautie says:

      ” And if she had her eye surgery for corrective purposes, then I don’t see why she should feel obliged to tell the world about it….. Also, and more importantly, we don’t know what goes on in people’s lives as far as their health is concerned so no, I don’t really think she’s being disingenuous here, just refusing to feed interest in what she sees as her private business. ”
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Amen.

      When did it become that no one had a right, to keeping a visit to the doctor private?

      So what if Zellweger had a little eye work done. Who gives a sh*t. I am amazed by so many Nosy Nellie’s screaming about this… as if it matters. As if, it is costing them money somehow.

      It would be one thing, if it was one of the desperate for attention media wh*res. Who simply can not stand not to have their silicone filled faces and asses… all over the internet daily. Suddenly attempting to claim their cat faces are all natural.

      I am more concerned about the lack of eye brow grooming. And the lack of some lip color. Did she not have at least a little Carmex in her purse for those parched lips?

      Give the girl a break. She had, what looks like, a little minor eye lift done. She still is holding on to her original face. I see her soft wrinkles. Discoloration on her forehead.

      Renee is about as natural as a 45 year old actress in LA … is going to be.

    • Someonestolemyname says:

      I agree I think it’s just eye sugery and aging a bit

      • Pumpkin Pie says:

        @Someonestolemyname
        That’s my impression as well.

        And I’d say she had the eye surgery for medical, not cosmetic reasons, or she could have done the surgery years ago? Anyway, she is a beautiful woman pre- and post- eyelid intervention. She shouldn’t have to talk about her choices, it’s only her business. Go Renée!

  12. GoodNamesAllTaken says:

    She’s joking, right? How stupid does she think we are?

    • Mel M says:

      I just saw a somecard on Instagram that says “May your Halloween be as shocking as Renee Zellweger’s new face”

      I mean seriously, everyone knows Renee.

      • als says:

        That is so mean!
        What I don’t get is what kept her so busy? What has she been doing to exhaustion? I love Renee and I have been waiting for a long time to see her in more movies and nothing. I know she probably does charity and maybe other stuff, but still, she can afford taking a break.
        And what is this unhealthy lifestyle that she says she quit? I never knew her as an addict of any sort. She must have a very complicated private life.

      • Mel M says:

        It is mean, but she’s not fooling anyone.

  13. Arya Martell says:

    I don’t think she’s had a ton of work done. I just think she had the eye work and maybe a little forehead botox. The eye work is so dramatic that I believe it just changed her whole face and it’s settled now. Look at her, she’s still got lines and wrinkles which is good. Her face isn’t frozen. I see little to no fillers.

    I take her comments as throwing shade at Hollywood and the media over the big deal they’ve made about her appearance. It’s well known that she likes making movies but that she has no love for Hollywood. She’s not denying plastic surgery she’s just avoiding the subject by talking about her happy life. I can get that. She isn’t obligated to tell us anything directly. She’s not lying. Good for her. I think she seems way happier and I think it’s good she’s gotten away from Hollywood.

    • Guesto says:

      Agree. I guess she could have ignored all the fuss but I can see how annoying it must be for someone like her to have this bombardment of attention. I think, all things considered, she’s dealt with it well and on her own terms.

      • Arya Martell says:

        Something tells me Renee’s people were bugging her to make a statement. But I agree with you.

    • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

      But she looks like an entirely different person. She can’t expect people not to notice. That’s just unrealistic. I loved her old face. I wouldn’t have known this was her if the caption hadn’t said so. I still couldn’t believe it for a minute. I think it’s just silly to avoid something so very, very obvious.

      • Arya Martell says:

        I have no doubt she expected people to notice. I just don’t think Renee expected people to care and I think it annoys her that they are making such a huge deal out of it. Tons of women in Hollywood have new faces all the time. Why are we focusing on Renee?

      • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

        Because she is completely unrecognizable. It’s not just a lift or a tweak. I wouldn’t know her if I passed her on the street. Will she still get job offers when her name is associated with a completely different face? Maybe she doesn’t realize how different she looks?

      • Arya Martell says:

        Goodnames Would you be making this huge of a deal about it if Renee was your friend? Would you continue to press if your friend if she wasn’t willing to give you a straight answer about looking completely different and didn’t tell you she was getting plastic surgery? Think about it. Does it really matter as long as she’s happy? I think that’s what Renee is getting at. Yeah she looks different. That’s her deal, not ours.

      • Amy says:

        Lighten up Arya…there’s a big difference if your friend had something done to make her totally unrecognizable and a famous actress whose face is her career…
        She used to be so adorable but now she just looks like another generic blonde. Nothing special anymore 🙁

      • kri says:

        This drives me crazy. There is a group of actresses who have very good work done. Then there is the other group. Do they not look at each other and then talk abot who they went to?! And we are focusing on Renee because this article is about her. I’m glad she is happy, but I would be going to whoever did that to my face and asking for a full refund.

      • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

        Well, no, Arya, I wouldn’t keep pressing a friend. I just think it’s different when your famous. When you make that big of a change, and you’re famous and recognizable because of your face, at least partly, people are going to be shocked and comment. I like Renee, I really do. And I feel sorry for her that the surgery turned out so badly and that people are so interested in it. I’m just saying that it isn’t unexpected, and I don’t think she should be surprised. I also think saying it’s just because she’s happy makes her look like she’s in denial. Of course her happiness is the most important thing, and I hope she is happy. And no, it’s really none of my business, but what do we talk about on here that IS really any of our business?

      • Kiddo says:

        GoodNamesAllTaken, Beige bootie shorts are a big part of your Just Yikes business.

      • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

        Well, that’s true Kiddo. I guess there are exceptions.

    • Kitten says:

      “It’s well known that she likes making movies but that she has no love for Hollywood. She’s not denying plastic surgery she’s just avoiding the subject by talking about her happy life. I can get that. She isn’t obligated to tell us anything directly. She’s not lying.”

      This is exactly how I feel about it.

      This is different than KK lying about plastic surgery.

    • H says:

      Someone on another gossip board mentioned that her skin has the look of having stopped Botox after overusing it, and that seems about right to me. People are calling her a liar and all sorts of names and it’s a shame. Renee has always had a reputation as a kind person and she’s never been an in your face famewhore. She’s not denying plastic surgery because it’s obvious, but that’s her body and her choice. She doesn’t owe us an explanation as to whether it was cosmetic or medical, or whether she even had it. Her business.

      • claire says:

        Is that why her skin looks so bad? That doesn’t look like a happy face. It looks like an overworked face.

    • Someonestolemyname says:

      I just think it’s eye surgey and a little botoxed. The rest of her face looks almost the same, except for her eye area.

  14. KIddo says:

    She should have come clean, but if you had looked anywhere yesterday, articles were plastered about the change. By not addressing it, she has now invited more chatter. Which is sad, because someone yesterday wrote that she had the eye work done because she was so insecure about the nick ‘squinty’ pre-surgery.

    Anway, Doyle Bramhall II is still EVERYTHING, with his everything style.

    • Jaderu says:

      Ya I think she should have just kept quiet on it. I feel like she’s saying she doesn’t need to discuss whether or not she had work done. But she opened the door so now people will discuss the ever living shit out it.

    • mia girl says:

      There were so many articles all over!
      By the end if the day it kinda felt like a feeding frenzy.

      If she did have the eye work because of her drooping lids (which I tend to believe) she could have be open about that and been able the frame the conversation. But this “I’m getting older” approach is not helpful.

      I am feeling a tinge of sympathy for her. So much collective judgement on a person must be tough.

      • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

        My husband, who loathes celeb gossip, mentioned it to me. So everybody in the universe knows.

      • KIddo says:

        Goodnames, I really felt bad for her. The coverage was excessive. But we noticed this change when she first rolled it out. I guess MSM only noticed yesterday.

      • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

        I feel bad for her because I don’t think she intended for the change to be this drastic. But she looks so different, people are going to notice. And comment. It’s sad for her, but completely predictable. She should just own up to it, imo.

      • AntiSocialButterfly says:

        I don’t really think she had ‘drooping lids’; she has always had a single crease lid… now, post surgery, she magically has a double lid crease. It’s sad because she had an interesting and lovely face- now, not so much- she doesn’t stand out anymore. Maybe that’s what she wanted?

    • Someonestolemyname says:

      Renee doesn’t need to tell the public anything.
      She doesn’t owe the public an explanation.

      • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

        True, but she could have just said it’s no one else’s business and I don’t care to discuss it. I think she made it worse by implying it was “happiness.”

  15. Dana m says:

    I understand if she wants her surgeries to remain private. I get it, I’m private too. But she is in the public eye and many people will comment on her changed face. It is very obvious she had somethings done. If I were her I would be devestated and depressed if I messed up my face like that…maybe she is and in denial too.

    Or maybe she thinks it looks great?!

    • NeNe says:

      When I first saw her new face I had to do a triple take. If it didn’t mention it was her i never would have known.

      What I don’t understand is why celebrities who are constantly in the public eye want/think they can keep their life private. They are in the wrong profession to even think that is possible. Unfortunately, when you’re out there publicly you give people the right to comment about you either good or bad.

    • Elle says:

      I honestly feel bad for actresses – they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t. I also think there’s maybe one good plastic surgeon in LA, given that there are a handful of actresses who have had great work while the rest end up like, well, Renee Zellweger. Much as I hate to say it, eye surgery is close to a must for most actresses – and actors – once they hit their 40s and 50s. Years ago, I spoke with a woman who worked in a plastic surgeon’s office (not in LA) who said her boss estimated 90+ percent of actors have their eyes done.

      So I feel bad for Renee, but I have to ask: she spent all that money on plastic surgery but can’t spring for a decent skin care routine? Her skin ages her – and that is something that can usually be improved with a great skin care routine and regular facials.

  16. Luciana says:

    I hate tearing apart a woman for her looks, even if we are discussing Kim K. IMO Renee looks different because of 1)too much tan and bleached 2)eyebrows. She doesn’t look bad. Just different. If she’s happy and healthy, then good for her.

    • OriginalTessa says:

      I agree she doesn’t look bad, she just looks different. She had such distinct hooded eyes, and now she’s got these eyelids she’s never had before and she looks completely different. She doesn’t look bad in any way or freakish, she just doesn’t look like Renee Zellwegger anymore, and when you’re an Oscar winning A-list actress, you probably should make sure people can still recognize you when you leave the plastic surgeons office.

  17. Tig says:

    I get not wanting to open up re health issues, but if she had eyelid surgery- and she could have been a candidate based on earlier pics- then fail to see the big deal about saying that.

    There were plenty of pics of her being rail thin in the past, and can believe putting weight on would have shown up in her face. However, her makeup did her absolutely no favors during this event. And if she went barefaced, she may want to reconsider.
    OT-is the boyfriend related to one of Delaney and Bonnie? Band from the 70s

  18. Someonestolemyname says:

    But Renee doesn’t have to tell anyone if she doesn’t want to.
    She can say what she wants.

    She doesn’t one anyone an explanation, whatever she did is her Decision.

    I think she’s only had her eyes hoods removed , the rest of her face looks the same and she looks her age, she doesn’t look younger, her eyes just look Bigger, more open, thats why I think it’s her eyes only which she had done.
    But that has removed her unique look, Now she looks sort of generic Hollywood actress, the cute eye skape and eye twinkle is gone.

    • Guesto says:

      Exactly, the ‘dramatic transformation’ really is only her eyes. Everything else is pretty much as it’s always been, minus/plus weight loss and natural ageing.

      She has talent and versatility in spades and has just signed on to a new pic so hope this is the beginning of a new career chapter for her.

      • snowflake says:

        to be honest, i cant really tell much of a difference. if anything, she looks older to me. i think she did her eyes, but she has wrinkles so idk about botox and fillers.

    • Courtney says:

      I agree on the amount of work she’s had done. She looks good, different, but good. And she looks her age for the most part. If she’s doing botox/fillers, it must be minimal and very good work because it certainly doesn’t look obvious. You can see crows feet/wrinkles in the photos.

  19. Luca76 says:

    I honestly just think everyone should leave her alone. No one asks Mickey Rourke WTF he’s done to his face.

    • KIddo says:

      No, people just GASP at Mickey Rourke.

    • HughJass says:

      There’s no need to ask Mickey Rourke WTF happened to his previous (beautiful, beautiful) face. He has been open about damage done by boxing and botched surgery.

      • Arya Martell says:

        Plus if you notice in the past year or so Mickey’s had a bit of minor corrective work. He’s actually starting to look like his old self, just older.

    • Luca76 says:

      The point is I can think of a half dozen male actors who look horrid and have had obvious work done but when a man ruins his looks no one cares.

  20. serena says:

    I hate when celebrities deny the obvious! It was not a compliment by the way, so no need to ‘happy you noticed’ .. nope, it’s not something to be happy about Renee.
    Also it kind of pisses me off that she is crediting age as the reason she looks different, IT’S NOT.

    • H says:

      She didn’t deny anything, though.

      • serena says:

        It’s the same as denying in my opinion. She’s saying ‘I’m naturally like that, I’m different because I’m happy and aging..’ so yes, she is.

      • Someonestolemyname says:

        She doesn’t need to explain her answer or herself and she does not need to tell the public what she did or did not do, it’s HER business.
        She doesn’t need to explain anything, she can say whatever she wants.

  21. Neelyo says:

    I never understood the violent backlash against Zellwegger and I don’t think she did either. Even when she was popular, there was constant criticism of her face, so she does something about it and there’s even more hate. She’d be condemned either way.

    I don’t know what to say except that I’ve always liked her work and I’m sad that she thought she had to change herself.

    • AntiSocialButterfly says:

      I agree with you completely. I always thought she was gorgeous, never understood the petty criticism.

      • Someonestolemyname says:

        I agree, she was given crap by many about her looks before and she was gorgeous.
        Many People use to say she looked like she was sucking on lemons but I always found her both beautiful and cute, she was part Marilyn Monroe, part Doris Day, and all Renee Zellwegger. I still think she looks fine and the eye work may actually be all she’s had.

  22. aenflex says:

    The regret that comes with so many cosmetic procedures leads to the lies. Her choice, but in my opinion it was a bad one. She looked different before, and I think better. Actually always liked her interesting eyes.

    • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

      I thought she was adorable. It’s such a shame to me that she is unrecognizable now, and ridiculous to deny that she had anything done.

      • H says:

        She didn’t deny anything, though. She just didn’t confirm anything, which is her right because it’s her body.

      • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

        She implied that she looks different because of happiness and age. I agree it’s no ones business, but as I said above, then just say it’s none of your business. Or say nothing, not a half-truth. All she did was prolong the conversation.

  23. Longhorn says:

    I’m always the one arguing to my friends that certain celebs thought to have had plastic surgery never did (ie, Angelina Jolie). But even I can tell Renee had her eyes done!!

  24. DavidBowie says:

    You can bounce a quarter off that forehead. I think along with the eyelid lift she’s definitely gotten Botox injections and probably a chemical peel. It’s nobody’s business but her own what she does with her body. However, don’t go out and address all the hoopla with BS.

  25. Senaber says:

    I actually think it’s rude to comment on someone’s plastic surgery if they do not bring it up. The only difference I see is her eye lift, and good comment on the eyebrow situation. If she doesn’t want to admit to it that’s fine. She doesn’t owe anyone an explanation. She’s not shilling some miracle face cream or a certain diet/ exercise.

    And she looks great. She does look happy.

    • Arya Martell says:

      I agree to a point. I think it’s okay to see a picture and comment on work done. But at the same time I do think it’s tacky and reinforces the idea that celebrities aren’t people but commodities. But also don’t lie. If you are sporting a different face than you did 5 years ago and then deny having plastic surgery then I will lose all respect for you. Just don’t talk about it. I don’t think Renee said anything wrong. I think it’s more rude that there are those not satisfied with her answer.

  26. Kinta says:

    She looks like that because she drank lots of water and worked out more, you guys! Isn’t that always the secret?

  27. Ellen says:

    Look, she looks great. She just looks NOTHING like her appearance 2 years ago.

    This isn’t bad plastic surgery along the lines of Goldie Hawn at the Oscars, or whatever happened to Jessica Lange’s face along the line (not to mention Mary Tyler Moore). Maybe that should be a good thing, because those women are still recognizably themselves and yet their surgeries were a disaster.

    And still this situation just makes me feel sad. Renee is 45. Why did she think she needed such dramatic work? [I disagree that this is just the eye surgery.]

    Then again, she really hasn’t been in great movies (or many movies at all) since about 2005. Maybe she figured she had nothing to lose.

  28. Esmom says:

    I really do think it was just an eye lift, to me every other part of her face looks the same. But disingenuous is exactly how I’d describe her statement. Aging and new found happiness do not change the shape of your eyes, lol.

    As for the bad choices she made to conceal her exhaustion, I thought she might be implying that she took drugs. But now I can see that she might have been referring to ill-advised Botox. I do think she’s less ‘tox-y looking than she was a few years ago.

    • Guesto says:

      “But now I can see that she might have been referring to ill-advised Botox. I do think she’s less ‘tox-y looking than she was a few years ago.”

      ^ That’s how I interpreted it too.

  29. smee says:

    This must be mortifying for her to have the entire internet discussing her “face issues” – no matter how they occurred. I guess she didn’t want to have to spill her guts as to exactly what she’s had done, so she’s going with “fulfilling life” and I don’t blame her.

    The too pale eyebrows paired with an eye lift, weight loss, peels, botox and aging – this is what you get. She doesn’t look bad, she just got rid of her trademark squint, so she doesn’t look like RZ anymore.

    The super chapped lips…..IDK

  30. Christin says:

    I think she looks like one of the Duck Dynasty wives (the one whose daughter is on DWTS right now). The resemblance is strong in the profile shot, where Renee is showing off the back of her dress.

    And the Duck wives look nothing like they did just a few years ago. So there is another similarity.

  31. Ag says:

    i don’t think she owes anyone an explanation for what she had/didn’t have done, in a way. but maybe this is a good way for her to draw attention to herself? either way, does she deserve $hit for her “new” face? i don’t know. plastic surgery IS the industry standard.

    my husband read a good take on this on Slate last night.
    http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/10/21/ren_e_zellweger_plastic_surgery_in_hollywood_women_over_40_get_a_new_face.html

    • Santolina says:

      Great article. Never bank on being the “fresh-faced ingenue” forever because that’s very fleeting and you’ll need something else to fall back on. The sad part is that Renee DID have something else to fall back on — her body of work. Too bad she didn’t believe in herself.

  32. HughJass says:

    Girlfriend needs some chapstick, stat!

  33. Adrien says:

    Her Asian eyes made her look young, why change it?

  34. Bananapants says:

    We were mad at how she looked, so she changed it. Now we’re mad at her for that. I wasn’t going to say one word about her face, because I think it screams of someone uncomfortable in her own skin, but that statement she released made me say “BYE FELICIA”, and I’ve never used that phrase before in my life. Bye, girl.

  35. neer says:

    I respect a person’s choice on what to do with her life.

    However, she should not put the blame on others when people ask about her looks because she really looks different. Of course, she cannot avoid being asked regarding this especially that she’s a celebrity. Now, if she doesn’t want to talk about it, she should have replied, “NO COMMENT” or “WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET…”. No need to fault others by giving “deep” statements which makes her very defensive all the more. Also, if she really did some facial surgery, I think she should have OWN it. If she is truly happy as she claimed, she should have expressed it in a way that is believable to the public. OWN it happily & honestly!

  36. Talie says:

    I can’t imagine the pain of having your eyes lifted and widened like that! Yikes…

  37. Jayna says:

    I think she looked more like herself back in the after photo in 2013, just her eyes a little wide, but they didn’t overdo it with big lids where they cut a ton of skin off. She still has barely any lids above and some crepeyness, but you did see she had done it because her eyes were so hooded before. But at least it still looked like Renee. These new photos. I wouldn’t recognize her. There’s a photo of her smiling where it looks more like her, but the one above, nothing like her. I don’t know what’s she’s done, botox, fillers, bad eyebrows and paler eyebrows. Her eyebrows are a mess. Add it to the eye job and she looks unrecognizable. I like her pale also. The tan face is throwing me off. I’m used to Renee with pale skin and darker lipstick and a rounder face.

  38. bbb1975 says:

    She kind of looks like Katie Couric in that first picture.

  39. kibbles says:

    Renee comes off as a smart and independent woman but also someone who is a bit of an oddball, who up until her latest boyfriend has had a string of short-term unsuccessful relationships, and who has always been fiercely private and awkward in the spotlight. She must have also been incredibly insecure about her looks to have done this to herself then deny that she’s had obvious plastic surgery as if no one would notice her new face. The money she used for plastic surgery would have been better spent on a new hair stylist, makeup artist, eyebrow artist, and weekly facials rather than whatever she did to her skin, eyes, and cheekbones. Her styling has been off for years. Some people just can’t come to terms with growing old in the public eye. It must be very sad to hate oneself so much that one would feel the need to buy a new face. For someone who feels the need to change her face this much, I wonder if she would benefit from professional help to deal with her esteem issues.

    • Someonestolemyname says:

      Then almost Alsl of Hollywood should go into seeing professional help if Renee has a problem.
      Maybe she did what she felt like doing and could afford it so why not. It’s her right.
      She didn’t so anything wrong.
      She is not trying to look 16, she simply had eyelift and not all eyelifts are successful, you take your chances with surgery.

      • kibbles says:

        This is not just a minor botox session, a routine chemical peel, or even a little lipo. This is drastic surgery that has completely changed the way her face looks. She looks like someone who could be Renee’s sister or cousin, but definitely not herself. It isn’t sexist to point out this major change, but it is sexist that women feel so much pressure to live to a certain beauty standard that anyone would feel the need to buy a new face. It’s sad and it’s a sad commentary on how many women today rely heavily on plastic surgery to feel good about themselves.

  40. Sumodo1 says:

    I guess this bad PR is the end of the “Bridget Jones” talk forever.

  41. NeNe says:

    I call BS on her comments. Without a doubt she had something done. What’ the big friggen difference. Why do most celebrities try to deny the fact they had work done? They obviously think we’re dumb or something and won’t notice. Give me a break

  42. lile says:

    Disingenuous? Why? She has no obligation to tell people her personal business. If people want to speculate, that is one thing, but she is in no way obligated to confirm or deny anyone’s stories. People need to get over it. Its none of their business. If I had to guess, looking at a side by side pic, the only significant differences I can see is in her nose and eyelids. Looks like she had a very minor nose job and the extra skin removed from her eyelids, making her eyes appear bigger and less squinty. She looks great and looks like she is finally comfortable with herself in her 40’s. Leave Renee Alone!!!!

    • tealily says:

      Hear, hear!

    • emmie_a says:

      If she doesn’t want to tell people her personal business then say “no comment” instead of feeding us bullsh*t and thinking we’re morons who will believe whatever she says. She didn’t have to do an article about this. I’m ok with keeping private matters private but I hate liars.

    • Someonestolemyname says:

      +1

  43. susan says:

    she was never conventionally pretty, but she had a face that matched her simpering personality. now she just looks rather ordinary.

  44. Santolina says:

    I think the guideline with plastic surgery should be to identify your unique and recognizable features and proceed with caution. All that dramatic weight gain and loss she did for her Bridget Jones movies may have taken it’s toll on her psyche as well as her body.

    • Someonestolemyname says:

      Then almostall of Hollywood needs help with their psyche.
      They are all almost all getting procedures ,mulig and old.

      • Santolina says:

        What I said was the dramatic weight gain and loss she did for her role may have taken a toll on her psyche, not the procedures she had done on her face. Not every Hollywood actor makes that kind of commitment to a role.

  45. JenniferJustice says:

    I’m way more amused by the language than I am interested in her obvious cosmetic surgery. Rene can do what she wants, but the “flaky” cannot be surgical corrected. These women (Rene, Ashley, Blake, Goop), with their flowery poetic parse have me amazed at their belief that it’s taken seriously. Do they talk like that to their neighbors and such? Their boyfriends and husband’s families? My guess is no even though I prefer images of confused neighbors with mouths agape watching Rene or Ashley walk away. They talk like this for us and therein lies the irony. They want to be perceived as thoughtful, eloquent, and educated. But the planning that goes into the desired perception of thoughtful and eloquent is the very thing that shows they are no thoughtful in the sense of a characteristic such much as preparedness. You know it takes time to come up with the language, rehearse it, and learn what some of those new words mean in case somebody asks. I’m pretty sure they practice it in front of the mirror at least once….AND THEY TAKE THEMSELVES SO SERIOUSLY! How is that possible? Wouldn’t you all find it hard to keep a straight face talking like that? I’m repeating myself now, but I’m baffled by their desire to be admired, but the try so hard makes them silly.

    • Penelope says:

      Well said, Jennifer. Ashley Judd in particular fancies herself to be quite the intellectual, though all the ones you mention are pretentious and full of themselves.

    • sigh((s)) says:

      I read this great piece the other day by George Orwell where he was lamenting what people are doing to the English language by blowing every phrase out of proportion instead of being simple in their speech and letting content take the lead.
      He was always a favorite author of mine and now I know why.

      • JenniferJustice says:

        Me too. I work for lawyers for judge. It’s policy to use simple language for numerous reasons: 1) so the most will understand it; 2) It’s quicker to speak simple; 3) It’s actually thoughtful to speak simple v. trying to intimidate or impress with big words; 4) Simple language is universal and indicates the intention to work WITH people, not against them. Basically, not using simple language which is easier and quicker, is simply catachresis and those attemting to use language to appear intellectually superior are sesquipedalion. See what I did there?

    • ViktoryGin says:

      I’m often a fan of flowerl, pretentious language provided that is contains substance, but even I think that her comments are overwrought and rehearsed. She is fooling no one.

  46. tealily says:

    Meh, she’s a private person. I think this is just her way of saying “Why does it matter so much? I’m happy, so get over it.”

  47. Blythe says:

    Her new face looks good, but it’s not her. That’s the creepiest part. I’m missing this “peaceful” part of her face. She looks older, stressed, and even more tired. I don’t get it.

  48. Size Does Matter says:

    Re her comment about exhaustion and bad choices. My husband has ptosis (the drooping eyelid) on one eye. It is much more pronounced when he is tired. She may have been referring to eye surgery to fix the ptosis.

    In some of the photos she looks less different. Depends on her expression and the camera angle.

  49. Arya Martell says:

    Amy what you’re saying is that the difference between Renee and a fictional friend is that Renee is not a person but merely a commodity. Other than that I see no difference.

  50. Penelope says:

    What a tremendous crock of crap.

    Part of RZ’s charm was her offbeat yet-still-pretty face. Now she looks like all the other generic blondes trying to pretend they’re not aging in Hollywood. Sad.

  51. Mischa says:

    I must be one of the few on earth who doesn’t think she looks all that different. Her eyes look slightly larger, but the rest of her face looks the same to me, except that she looks older (because she IS older) which means her face has thinned out some. I’ve always liked Renee, she seems like a sweet soul, and I hate that everyone is talking about her like this.

  52. Jessica says:

    Weight loss has nothing to do with it. Renee has been scary thin in the past, much thinner than she is now, but her face was always the same. Even when she can’t have weighed more than 45kg’s she had a full face.

  53. khaveman says:

    I think she went Kenny Rodgers with her eyes. It’s honestly bad work IMO. She aged herself 10 years? Too much sun, too skinny (body fat % helps the face). Poor Renee.

  54. maddelina says:

    I think she looks really pretty and could care less what she had done. It’s her business.

  55. lowercaselois says:

    Off topic but her boyfriends hair reminds me of a guy I use to date in college and had a big Jewish afro just like that and when the wind blew it, the front would sway back and forth.

    • kibbles says:

      lol. Her boyfriend looks like a hot mess. Afros can be cute but Renee’s beau does not pull it off well.

  56. Kim1 says:

    She didn’t deny having surgery.
    IMO she looks better.
    I’m happy she is happy although I wished she would have ignored the BS.

  57. GByeGirl says:

    I think that her jawbone also looks less prominent and that her skin looks sun-damaged. I know that Family Guy used to (meanly) make fun of her appearance and it almost seems like she tried to fight the characterized version of herself.

    I always thought that she was so cute.

    I understand the desire for privacy, but she could have just…uh…stayed private.

  58. Cheshire says:

    As a plastic surgeon, it’s obvious she got a blepharoplasty. The problem, as with Jennifer grey’s nose before her, is that Renee’s “droopy” eyelids were emblematic of her look, just as Jennifer’s largish but charming nose was a signifier of “Jennifer Grey”. Her eyes are more “open” now, but having violated that signifier, she doesn’t look like “Renee Zellwegger”

  59. Lisa says:

    Quitting inflamation causing diet, medications or alchohol will result in marked changes in skin and muscle. My face was puffier before quitting sugar and junk food, much like hers. Never been near a plastic surgeon.

  60. Karen says:

    I don’t understand why people get so defensive about work other people have done. Especially for celebs.
    She looks completely different, but it’s really none of my business. She doesn’t owe any explanation to anyone.
    I haven’t seen her in anything in a really long time, I wonder if she will ever get back into acting.

  61. JH says:

    Whatever. She can do whatever she wants to her face . Totally fine. However, that doesn’t change the FACT that she looks like an entirely different person. Girl, own your choices.

  62. Georganna says:

    Eye job. MJ had it too. Change your eye shape to fit in better.

  63. Kim1 says:

    She says she is happy that people says she looks different so she is owning it.She looks different and she likes it

  64. Jen34 says:

    She needs better advice.
    She would have gotten sympathy if she had said it was done for medical reasons. Now people think she is a liar, too.

    • Someonestolemyname says:

      She doesn’t need sympathy, she doesn’t need anyone to confirm anything, she does not owe anyone anything, she can say whatever she wants.
      It’s her face, her life, her business and if she wants to frame her anser whatever way, so what. No matter what she said, some would have a problem with it.

  65. venus velvet says:

    It’s her prerogative if she doesn’t want to talk about it. And her eyelids will probably look more like they used to, eventually.

  66. TW says:

    When you look at the two profiles, it appears she had the little arch at the bridge of her nose shaved off as well. Now it’s perfectly flat and even. Not the same nose.

  67. DrFunkenstein says:

    I always find that leading a fulfilling life causes my facial appearance to change to the point that people can’t recognize me.

    • Christin says:

      And don’t you also feel compelled to create a huge word salad to convince the public how content you are?

      If she really wants privacy, why not wait until she had a project to promote before further debuting her altered look. She’s had roughly a five-year work break, and I suspect she’s been doing a bit more than soaking up fresh air and sleeping in each day.

  68. lisa says:

    All she had to say was, “I have the type of eyelids that, over time, partially obscured my vision. I had eyelid surgery to reduce the effects of the obscured vision” ….or something like that. To go into this prolonged platitude of self-actualization, which has nothing to do with the topic, just makes her look foolish and she loses credibility. And, it annoys fans (“does she think we are idiots”?) which affects her image. It *IS* disappointing when a public figure looks different. That’s the nature of the entertainment industry. I hope she saved $$$ well from previous work, because her career is probably going to go the way of Jennifer Grey…..

    • hmmm says:

      Even Katherine Hepburn admitted to eyelid surgery due to obscured vision. My mother also had that done. She still looks like herself, albeit more awake.

    • Someonestolemyname says:

      Or she could just say what she felt like saying and people can take it or leave it.

  69. Mei says:

    This is making me think of when the actor in the role of a well known character in a tv show has to go on maternity leave or something and they can’t write the character out enough, so some random takes their place then all the other characters treat them as if they’re the same person. Weird.

  70. minx says:

    I couldn’t care less what surgery she had done. But come on, who are we supposed to believe, her or our lying eyes?

  71. Babalon says:

    This is the same person that filed for divorce citing fraud. So, this word salad response is pretty consistent.

  72. melain says:

    Looks like she’s only had her eyes done…But, oh, those eyes. So distinctive. And she looks tired to me. Maybe even weary. She used to look more fit and energetic. I call B.S. on her statement. I think she’s not doing well. I think she’s got her hands full with Doyle Bramhall. He looks absolutely drugged outta his mind. I’m sure she wants to be with him but it looks to me like telltale signs of an unhealthy relationship.

  73. silly you says:

    She is a lying liar telling big fat lies. What’s the point, though? Helen Keller could see that she looks like a completely different person. If she doesn’t want to talk about her surgery, then she shouldn’t make statements to People, right?

  74. Justwastingtime says:

    Oh come on, it’s completely obvious she had an eyelift. If you have deep set eyes and then have an eye lift for puffy lids, the result will be more lid and that can drastically change your appearance. If she had an ethical plastic surgeon that surgeon should have informed her ahead of time. Mine did, so I didn’t do the surgery. I didn’t want to look different.

  75. kitty-bye says:

    I am still shocked by Matthew McConaughey & pray Mark Wahlberg doesn’t change permanently, however whatever makes them happy & healthy.

  76. Ottavia says:

    It’s only me or she now looks like Naomi Watts?