In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE magazine, the Oscar winner said she is living a different, happy, more fulfilling life and she is happy that it is showing.
“Perhaps I look different. Who doesn’t as they get older?” she asked.
The 45-year-old received attention after an appearance at the Elle Women in Hollywoods Awards event held in Beverly Hills on Monday raised eyebrows as she was unrecognisable.
Her ‘transformed’ photo went viral on social media sites with many saying she looks scary and speculating she must have had plastic surgery.
However her statement to PEOPLE did not make any mention of her going under the knife and instead said: “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.
“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? But I am different. I’m happy.”
Her healthier and slower-paced lifestyle is now being shared with boyfriend Doyle Bramhall and a close circle of friends.
![](http://img.astroawani.com/2014-10/71413987497_freesize.jpg)
: Actress Renee Zellweger and recording artist Doyle Bramhall II attend ELLE's 21st Annual Women in Hollywood Celebration. - Jason Merritt/Getty Images for ELLE/AFP
“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 said.