Renee Zellweger Not Offended By Criticisms Of Her ‘Unrecognizable’ Face! ‘I’m Glad Folks Think I Look Different,’ Says ‘Bridget Jones’ Actress

Renee Zellweger recently faced backlash when she walked the red carpet of ELLE's "Women in Hollywood Awards" in Beverly Hills. Before and after photos of her immediately went viral.

However, despite accusations of plastic surgery, the 45-year-old actress tells People magazine that she is happy: "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."

"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," she said.

The "Jerry Maguire" actress also admitted that one of her bad choices in life was exhausting herself: "Rather than stopping to recalibrate, I kept running until I was depleted and made bad choices about how to conceal the exhaustion."

Despite harsh statements about her appearance, the "Bridget Jones" star insists that people look different as they grow older but what's important is her happiness: "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."

Here's what some netizens have to say about Zellweger's recent photographs:

"Look, it's her body - she can do whatever she wants. Having said that - if you had asked me WHO she was? No way on God's green Earth would I have EVER said 'Renee Zellweger". She looks like a completely different PERSON," said an Atlanta-based netizen with the user name Tyler Durden.

Eliza-Jane from London says that nothing's wrong with ageing naturally: "This isn't about having surgery. She has simply aged and lost the 'baby fat' that comes with youth. Hollywood - and the public - always seems to think that a changed look is the result of surgery. And given that she does NOT look as 'youthful' as in past photographs, I would say the change is due to her getting older and not resorting to fillers and lifts. Isn't it amazing how a naturally-aging look is as shocking to people as a facelift?!!"