Renee Zellweger has responded to the deafening internet chatter about her new look at Elle Women in Hollywood Awards in Beverly Hills on Monday.
The Oscar winner gave a statement to People Magazine saying she’s “glad” people think she looks different, but that the internet-dominating conversation is “silly”.
“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,” said the 45-year-old.
She told the magazine that she chose to comment 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 added that she is taking more care of her health, something she had neglected in the past. The Texas-born actress has been absent from Hollywood films since 2010.
“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.”
“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.
She puts people’s surprise at her changed appearance down to her time away from the limelight.
“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.”
