SHESPEAKS Your Power to Influence

You probably saw the photos of actress Renee Zellweger at the Elle Women in Hollywood Awards looking…well completely different. The 45 year old actresses face seems to have gone through some drastic changes recently to the point that many are saying she is unrecognizable. Speculation has run the gamut as to which type of surgeries she has had to change her signature look we all remember so well from movies like Bridget Jones’ Diary.

Her reasons for changing up her look are obviously very personal, but the pressures Hollywood actresses face to be perceived as forever young are no secret. Zellweger herself recently spoke out to say how “silly” all of the speculation and talk over the photos are. She told People, “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.” She adds, “My friends say that I look peaceful. I am healthy. 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.”

Zellweger thinks that perhaps the reaction has something to do with the fact that we haven’t seen her in much since 2010 when she starred in My Own Love Song. She says, “People don't know me in my 40s. People don't know me [as] healthy for a while. Perhaps I look different. Who doesn't as they get older?! Ha. But I am different. I'm happy.”

Were you surprised by Renee Zellweger’s new look?

What do you think of her response to all of the online chatter?