Renee Zellweger: Then and Now

There has been an awful lot of buzz about Renee Zellweger lately. Tongues have been wagging and pundits are weighing in, including plastic surgeons (with heady disclaimers), about what exactly did Renee do?

Frankly, if someone had shown me the picture at right above on its own, I could not identify who it was...could you???

Ms. Zellweger always had a atypical Hollywood look, which I found charming... mostly. There were definitely some Red Carpet appearances, however, where she appeared chipmunk cheeked, from over zealous injections of fillers, (see yesterday's blog for my take on tweaking the right way: http://divadebbi.blogspot.com/2013/12/girls-night-out-new-york-group-for.html)

Her squinty eyes, were well, Renee's.  Highly identifiable, but certainly not an impediment to her successful film career, with hits like Jerry McGuire and The Bridget Jones Diaries, that delighted fans.

What would make her want to change her look so drastically?  There are even rumors that she is "obsessed" with Jennifer Lawrence and one can't exactly deny the resemblance:

Renee (44) and Jennifer (23)

Here's what I think Renee has had done:

Photo courtesy of Perez Hilton

A brow lift, Botox and upper eye lift; notice the larger, tight shiny forehead and wide eyed look. Sculptra to add volume and lift her cheekbones, and a chin implant, there is significantly more length to her face then there was before.  Her skin looks luminous a youthful, so I would guess some combination of peels and laser treatments.

Actually, I think she looks beautiful...I just don't think she looks anything like her former self.

I think one of the top things that stop women from undergoing plastic surgery is the nagging fear that they will no longer look like themselves. They may want to look more youthful, but not alien to their own eyes.

I do think Renee has crossed the line into Meg Ryan turf, another adorable girl next door, who completely altered her looks.  The results are much better, but I do think the rumblings will follow her for the rest of her career.

It's hard now, not to think of Meg, without the image of her post surgical face coming to mind, rather than the fine work she did in films like When Harry Met Sally.

Meg Ryan

Back in the late 80's Jennifer Grey, burst to fame after starring in the warmly entertaining film Dirty Dancing.  She too, was not classically beautiful, but fresh faced and adorable.

In the early 90's, she had a nose job. While the result was not unpleasant or particularly unnatural looking, she lost what was unique and special about her and her career in films along with it.

Jennifer Grey

I wonder what Renee's intentions were; was she chasing her youth or hoping to changing her look?  Perhaps a bit of both... I truly hope shes happy with her results. I also hope it doesn't do what her unconventional look never did before; impede her success...

xox,
DD