Renee Zellweger in Carolina Herrera in NYC: unrecognizable or adorable?

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Here are some new photos of Renee Zellweger. Renee made a rare public appearance yesterday at 2014 Couture Council Awards benefit luncheon honoring Renee’s longtime friend and designer-ally Carolina Herrera. Zellweger’s best fashion moments came from wearing Herrera’s clothes, so it makes sense that Renee would show up to honor her friend. So, what’s the problem? The same problem that CB discussed in the past – Renee is somewhat unrecognizable these days. She had something done last year. Some say she had eye work, some say it’s just injectibles. I have no idea. My theory involves an eye lift, I think.

Renee is wearing Herrera, obviously. The dress and the shoes are great, but as you could probably already tell, I’m a fan of Renee in Herrera. I wish Renee had more opportunities to walk red carpets these days – she hasn’t had a new film out since 2010. Which is crazy for an Oscar-winning actress who was once one of the most in-demand actresses just a decade ago. What do you think is better for an actress – the Renee method of dropping off the face of the earth for several years when the parts dry up, or the Nicole Kidman method of clinging to 30-something characters and relying on a steady stream of Botox and fillers to recapture your youth? I honestly can’t decide.

By the way, Renee is working on a film called The Whole Truth – that the one where Daniel Craig dropped out just before production and now Keanu Reeves is playing the lead guy, a lawyer. It comes out next year. Will this be the first of many roles for Renee’s Phase 2?

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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98 Responses to “Renee Zellweger in Carolina Herrera in NYC: unrecognizable or adorable?”

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  1. TheOriginalKitten says:

    She looks pretty but SOOO different..It’s amazing how much her eyes really were her “signature”, that squint was really the most distinguishable aspect of her face.

    • Size Does Matter says:

      It’s not quite a Jennifer Grey level of unrecognizability, but close. She looks good, love the clothes. Any time I’ve had a really really bad day, Bridget Jones can help pull me out of it. That scene where she slides down the fireman pole just kills me.

      • Jen34 says:

        It is exactly like Jennifer Grey. I feel sorry for Renee, though, because it is age drivenandit’s tough to age in Holywood.

      • Gia says:

        Good call. It’s tragic what Renee has done to her face.

      • Bob Loblaw says:

        I agree with Jen34, it’s exactly like Jennifer Grey. She looks nothing like her former self, the “slight” change destroyed her unique face. I did not recognize her until I read the caption. Age driven or not, that’s bad work.

    • Mel M says:

      Agree completely. It’s like what happened with Jennifer Grey, I’m not sure if either women realized how big of an impact just a “small” tweak would make.

      • Firefly says:

        It might not have been a question of vanity. I have eyes like hers were – hooded eyelids. As you get older and gravity takes over, the hood starts pushing down more and more on your eyelid and it begins to impair your vision if you don’t get it fixed. It runs on both sides of my family – one grandmother elected for surgery and one didn’t. The one who didn’t couldn’t open her eyes more than halfway by the time she died. My mother is having it done in a couple of weeks – her last exam showed that her field of vision was starting to be affected by the hood and she wanted to get it done ASAP so it doesn’t worsen. My doctor said I’ll probably be at the point where I need to make that decision in about 10-15 years (I’m about 10 years younger than Renee).

        Anyways, point being, it might not be a Jennifer Grey. It could very well be (and in my mind, is likely….but I’m probably biased, given my family history) that her trademark was affecting how well she could see and she had to decide between one or the other.

      • Chris says:

        I agree. I think if it was a vanity related issue she would have done it years ago. It has definitely changed her face a great deal but at the end of the day if I had to choose between looking different or being able to see I would choose my sight every time!

      • Poe says:

        Well said @Firefly. I was just getting ready to type something similar.

        I’m leaning more towards Renee’s vision was affected, because there were times I’ve looked at her older pictures, and be like, “man, how can she see where’s she’s walking?”

        On the other hand, it looks like she may have had a facelift or something else done to her face.

      • dilettante says:

        Yup, my 92 year old grandfather had to have it done because he just couldn’t see properly anymore due to drooping eyelids.

      • Mrs. Darcy says:

        I have deep set eyes too, I don’t know if they are quite as pronounced as Renee’s were though, it really has given me pause for thought because like CZJ it really made a dramatic impact on her face. My uncle has thought about having his done because they’re drooping down so bad into his vision – but he’s in his 60’s -no way was Renee suffering such dramatic eyelid droop at her age, it was all vanity, sorry. She’s way too young to have messed with her face so badly, sad.

      • Firefly says:

        It’s not impossible, at all. Like I said, I’m about 10 years younger than Renee and mine will be at the point where they’re in my field of vision in about 10-15 years – so when I’m in my mid-40s to early 50s. My maternal grandmother had to have it done at 65. My mother is having to have it done at 54. I’m on track to having it done younger than my mother. It all just depends on your genes and……probably a whole bunch of other stuff I don’t know about; it can unfortunately happen younger than you have seen in your relatives, Mrs. Darcy.

        Like Chris said, if it was vanity related, she would have done it a long time ago. Not saying she didn’t mess with her face in other ways (I’m not good at spotting that stuff unless it’s super obvious, like Kimmy K), but I don’t think her eyelid lift was because she was concerned about how they look.

      • Bob Loblaw says:

        I have hooded eyes, yeah at 47 they’re drooping but it is not vision impacting for me and Renee’s eyes are nowhere near as deep set as mine. On top of which, it’s not just the obvious eye lift that has changed her appearance. Her skin has the plastic, taut look of too much work as well. Not to mention the weird puffiness. She’s had stuff done and it’s obvious.

      • Coach Red says:

        Yup, she has looked like that forever, it was cute on her. She took a lot of flak for it, so if she were going to do something for THAT reason, she wouldn’t have waited until now. It IS amazing how different she looks with her eyes open like that! It just isn’t HER anymore. I hope it doesn’t ruin her career like it did JG’s.

    • TheOriginalKitten says:

      ..my first thought was Jennifer Grey as well. I wonder if it will affect her career the way it did Jennifer’s?

      • LAK says:

        Renee will be OK as her surgery happened AFTER a successful body of work such that her name is still recognisable in film markets worldwide unlike Jennifer Grey.

        Jennifer was on the first rung of stardom (yes I know she was in FERRIS BUELLER) and sabotaged the thing that made her unique before she was established enough that the change didn’t matter.

        Renee’s surgery is like Jessica Lange’s surgery. Actually better than Jessica’s surgery because at least Renee’s surgery wasn’t botched. Talk about worst facelift ever. And Jessica is now reigning supreme in TV. No one remembers how she botched her face. Some even make comments about how well she’s aging!!!

      • Bella bella says:

        I think everyone remembers how Jessica Lange botched her face. She once was beautiful and now looks frightening. I can’t believe she did it, as she seemed like one of those women who believed in having her real teeth, her real face, etc. It made me sad when she crossed over to the dark side.

      • Bob Loblaw says:

        I’ll say it, I don’t buy that any of these people look better after having all this work done. Plastic surgery is a big scam pandering to people’s insecurities and turning them into caricatures of their former selves. I’m not playing that game. The mirror is not going to rule my life. Just say no.

    • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

      I agree. She’s still pretty, but she took away the most appealing part of her face. She looks very generic now and I miss her little squint.

      • delorb says:

        I can recall her being raked over the coals for her squint. Its almost all anyone could talk about (other than her short marriage and seemingly desperate attempts to start a family). She’s damned if she did, damned if she doesn’t. Even the story above wants to make it seem as if she has something to be ashamed of. People get work done. Men as well as women. It seems to me that if you’re willing to run for miles to look and feel a certain way, why not get that with surgery?

      • Christine in Cda says:

        delorb, yes! This! I was thinking the very same thing. All people used to comment on were her eyes. Now she’s had something done to them, and people still can’t be positive. How frustratingly sad.

    • Christo says:

      Agreed. She looks great, but she is morphing into an aging Kim Bassinger.

    • Mixtape says:

      The takeaway from the work both Renee and Jennifer Grey had done is that those “worst features” we see in ourselves are often our most endearing traits to the rest of the world.

      • Belle Epoch says:

        Well said, MIXTAPE!

        Also called “beware what you want, you just might get it.” No more Bridget Jones for her!

        I understand RZ may have had hooded eyes, but she really did squint when the lights were flashing. Her eyes were not a problem while she was filming. Now she looks… Weird.

      • Mrs. Darcy says:

        +2. It’s hard for us to see what we think of as “flaws” as things that make us special, not things that need to be blended in to look like everyone else. I can only hope the Kardashian phase of young women destroying their natural beauty will be over in a few yrs. time, because the girls who are coming up now will see a bunch of 40 yr olds who look like Joan Rivers (R.I.P.) already and realize it’s not something to aspire to.

    • Loulou says:

      It’s tragic for others, obviously, but maybe she hated her droopy eyelids. She obviously looks happy with the changes and this could have been a personal choice rather than a professional one. For that, bravo I say. I’m going into a light septo-rhinoplasty though I modelled with this nose. However this nose was broken, the cartilage shifted or detached etc. Sometimes you want to age with what you were born with or the closest you can get. Zellweiger’s eyes were endearing to everyone, were a signature feature. The droopiness might come back but for now, though less distinctive, she is still beautiful.

    • Rose says:

      I am not an expert, but I think she had:
      Upper eyelids done (probably for medical reasons, because she was beautiful anyway).
      It looks like she started plumping her upper lip in about 2007-8.
      Who cares about botox, if any?
      But!!!
      I am noticing a difference in the proportion of the distance from the tip of her (perfect) nose to the lower portion of her chin. Did she try to achieve an oval face, rather than the lovely heart-shaped face?
      Lastly, she is rocking some bushy brows. Her brows were always perfectly manicured in the past. Brows make a difference.

  2. Jen says:

    Always loved her. She doesn’t look like herself anymore, however. She messed with her eyes and now she’s unrecognizable to me.

    • JudyK says:

      Ditto.

    • Lori says:

      Kenny Rogers!

    • PennyLane says:

      I love the dress, but….Renee Zellweger seriously looks like she’s a different nationality now – there is just a completely different vibe to her entire persona. How could just a brow lift do that?

      She looks like some Swedish actress who’s been in some art films but whose name I can never remember because it’s a complicated spelling and kind of long. I would not have ever said that this person in the photos was RZ.

      Unrecognizable is definitely the word.

    • Sarah123 says:

      The tight, pursed smile reminds me of Katie Couric for some reason. Renee looks less drugged here than recent years and her cheeks are less like giant apples of doom. I hope she’s healthy and happy.

  3. Anthea says:

    I really like her but she doesn’t look great here, although the dress fits here nicely.

    She was always very unique looking so although the surgery is her decision and good luck to her with it, I just liked her unique face before. Oddly I always felt her face looked prettiest in Bridget Jones – she looked perfect for that part.

  4. Snazzy says:

    I love the shoes

  5. Tanguerita says:

    I don’t think she is unrecognizable, although she must have done something to correct her hooded eyelids: it was really extreme and might have become a nuisance at some point. But other than that she looks very much her age and pretty much herself to me.

    • Esmom says:

      I agree, I’m not seeing Jennifer Gray-levels of change at all. Her eyes look a bit more wide open but everything else about her looks the same to me, including the awful hairstyle!

      • Pager90 says:

        I agree, I don’t know what people are talking about, she basically looks the same. I don’t see a real difference. I think whatever Botox she had is settling and she looks like herself.

        I honestly don’t think she had any surgery at all. I think she probably did some Botox in forehead which opened her eyes a smidgen, but now she is looking like Renee again.

        I love her dress.

    • Bella bella says:

      It kind of reminds me of how Diane Sawyer’s face changed after she had a similar surgery, but Renee’s is more extreme.

  6. mimif says:

    I just came here for the Keanu Reeves bit. 😍

  7. Louminary says:

    It reminds me of the Jennifer grey nose job. It’s changed her face too much!!

    • bella says:

      i agree!
      we’ve fallen in love with the jennifer grey dirty dancing face and the renee face of before.
      it’s difficult to love them since their former selves just aren’t visible anymore.
      they look SO different.
      both very pretty, but not the unique beauties of before…
      oh well.

      • Rocketmerry says:

        I almost never like the results of plastic surgery, on anyone. Most of the time, one ends up looking like a saccarhine, very bland-looking version of the much more interesting original self (cough-cough, Blake Lively).
        I’m sorry for Reese, I like her. Maybe her surgery will adjust and settle a bit, and she’ll look a bit more like before. Here’s hoping!

    • PunkyMomma says:

      Yes. Whatever Renee had done, it completely changed the character of her face.

      • Lex says:

        Some pointed out at the time it may have been necessary as opposed to purely cosmetic; there is a condition where your eye skin begins to droop and impedes your vision and its corrected with surgery. The surgery she had has totally opened up her eye area so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true

      • PennyLane says:

        Salman Rushdie had that surgery done as well; his eyes were so hooded that as he entered his sixties it was interfering with his ability to see.

  8. serena says:

    For starters her hair and make up are a mess. Then, yep, a eyelift was done and maybe something else.

    • kibbles says:

      Her hair is usually a mess and she has had bad skin in the past. Her skin looks a lot better than it did 7 years ago. I was shocked when it looked like she had rashes on her face and did not cover it up. This was when she was making appearances for Bee Movie. For all the money she has, she should invest in a good hair stylist and make-up artist. Wearing expensive designer clothes won’t matter if your skin and hair look a hot mess.

    • anne_000 says:

      I agree. Her hair is a mess.

      She looks unrecognizable. She ruined the uniqueness of her face. Part of her success was because of her looks.

    • Ange says:

      Her hair always has that ‘fresh from the gym’ look though.

  9. kri says:

    Her face is completely different. I never thought she was gorgeous, but I did find her appealing. Some of that is gone now. But I will say the dress is great and I swear to god I’m going to pick up a second job so that I can buy those shoes.

    • Pager90 says:

      I have to disagree, I think Her face looks the same, Its just her eyes just look a bit more open, but it could have been Botox in the forehead which opens eyes.

  10. Loopy says:

    The dress is cute, but her hair is a mess,and she looks really orange and leathery. She also looks like she is perpetually stunned.

    • in_theory says:

      I was about to say something similar. That tan with the colour of the dress is just bad. Didn’t she use to be a bit on the pale side?

  11. Grant says:

    I hope so. She’s a great actress. Although what is going on with her hair here?

  12. FingerBinger says:

    Renee kind of looks like a younger Meredith Baxter Birney.

  13. javaj77 says:

    She had a very noticeable eye lift. Doesn’t look remotely like the same person. Like Jennifer Grey and her nose job. Career killer.

  14. Lurker says:

    She’d look so much better with about 15 extra pounds.

    • Jenns says:

      I thought she looked her best in the first Bridget Jones movie.

      • kibbles says:

        She looked great in the first Bridget Jones film. Voluptuous and sexy. After the first film her weight really yo-yoed and she got too thin, gained weight for the second Bridget Jones, then lost a ton of weight again.

      • Lurker says:

        I totally agree. She looked great in that movie.

  15. kibbles says:

    She isn’t completely unrecognisable – I know it is Renee – but it is obvious that she has had work done to her eyes and possibly other parts of her face. It’s surprising that she would do this now at this stage in her career; does she think changing her face in her 40s will help her win more roles as an ageing actress in Hollywood? I can understand doing this before making it big but her old face was enough to become an A-list Oscar winning actress. Also, I think Renee just wanted a break from Hollywood. She doesn’t seem like someone desperate to cling onto her youth like Nicole Kidman which is why I don’t understand why she would do something like this.

  16. Sumodo1 says:

    I think Renee looks healthy (leathery, though) but could have benefited having good makeup, hairstyle/color, and jewelry. Thank gawd somebody put her in those shoes.

  17. Lara K says:

    In these pics she looks like Sarah Jessica Parker. In a good way.

  18. HatetheletterK says:

    Like everything but the hair. It looks like a mess.

  19. LAK says:

    Her hair is terrible. Like she’s not bovverred!!!

  20. Jh says:

    I really and truly wouldn’t recognize her. Man, what a shame. She always looked beautiful before all this plastic surgery mess.

  21. K.B. says:

    Completely unrecognizeable, but in a good way, because I can’t stand the stupid squint/sour face thing she’s become known for. She was so cute back when she started making movies. I think she looks like a not-aging-well Kathy Ireland, mixed with a little of Steven Spielberg’s wife.

  22. Ann says:

    Most people who have plastic surgery look uncanny valley-ish. Don’t know why but I just am instinctively repulsed when I stare into the faces of these plastic surgery victims. It’s a shame because Renee is so talented.

  23. Nicolette says:

    The dress is nice but the hair is sloppy, and looks like she just threw it up herself as she was running out the door. Her face just looks so different to me, can’t get used to it.

  24. susiecue says:

    That HAIR. Gurl!!!

  25. Lydia says:

    This is what happens when you spend your 20s and 30s overexercising and dieting–when you hit your 40s, you look like the human equivalent of beef jerky.

  26. Decloo says:

    I would never have pegged this woman for Renee. She absolutely looks like a different person. She hasn’t been in many movies lately and I expect she won’t with this new face. Can you imagine if there was a ‘Bridget Jones’ sequel of sorts? It would be like replacing the main actress with somebody else. I think this was a terrible career move.

  27. Jennifer says:

    I think she looks great. That squint was annoying. Whatever she had done, Eddie and Leann should follow suit.

  28. Dotty says:

    If this post were titled instead “Guess the Celebrity”, I would have failed.

  29. Jayna says:

    Try waking up every day with your skin hooding your eyes, which what is cute when young, becomes bothersome and much worse in your 40s when you have eyes like hers and for some, as it gets worse when you are older,can obscure your vision. Give her a break. Clooney did it and admitted it. He just got it perfect.

    After that reaction I had to medicine and not knowing and waking up every day with unrecognizable eyes, my eyelids gone, skin crepy and hanging so far over, I get it. I felt old and tired looking. I couldn’t figure out what I was having a reaction to, thinking creams or something or allergies, but it went on for a month or more. Then we finally figured it out. It was cellulitis of the eyelid. It had to do with a prescription I was taking, a rare side effect. I stopped and the swelling went away and my eyelids came back. Whew. I was young again and looked fresh in the morning. After that, I could never judge anybody that dealt with that every day.

    • Bob Loblaw says:

      No offense meant but your entire career is not built on your facial appearance. For an actor, their face, especially if famous, is their livelihood and their instrument, and she may have done this for vision related reasons but I doubt it. Plenty of people have eyes like hers, me and every member of my family for example, and we don’t need any surgery on our eye flaps in our forties.

  30. Jayna says:

    I just saw @firefly’s post much farther back. She makes a great point from her own family history about the medical necessity part.

    “It might not have been a question of vanity. I have eyes like hers were – hooded eyelids. As you get older and gravity takes over, the hood starts pushing down more and more on your eyelid and it begins to impair your vision if you don’t get it fixed. It runs on both sides of my family – one grandmother elected for surgery and one didn’t. The one who didn’t couldn’t open her eyes more than halfway by the time she died. My mother is having it done in a couple of weeks – her last exam showed that her field of vision was starting to be affected by the hood and she wanted to get it done ASAP so it doesn’t worsen. My doctor said I’ll probably be at the point where I need to make that decision in about 10-15 years (I’m about 10 years younger than Renee).”

  31. lucy2 says:

    I would assume she did it for medical reasons, as others have stated. She does look different, but not bad at all.
    I don’t know that roles dried up or the surgery affected her career. She seemed to just step back from it all for a while. She was very in demand and worked a lot for many years, maybe she just wanted a break, had family issues, health issues, who knows.

    She has worn some great Carolina Herrera gowns, but then with that odd one a few years, the whole line got weird. Now they seem to be back to more classic stuff, which I like.

  32. Esmom says:

    She may have tweaked her face a bit but I like how she’s always stayed low profile. It seems a much better route than Kidman’s, her facial tweaking has gone way too far and seems desperate, even if she has gotten more roles than Renee recently.

  33. aqua says:

    I can appreciate her loyalty to C.H. It’s just to bad she kind of disappeared from Hollywood. She’s extremely talented.

  34. Pager90 says:

    She has a beautiful figure, wow.
    I think she looks like Renee. I don’t see what people are talking about.

  35. NEENAZEE says:

    OMG I am obsessed with the dress and shoes. I must have them.
    Renee always looks great in CH but I’ve never really understood her hair and makeup choices (or lack thereof)… that said, I don’t think she is unrecognizable here, just a little different, which is the fate of most aging beauties. *sigh*

  36. Janet says:

    Mmmm…. not bad. The dress fits her perfectly. But I will always remember her wearing this at the Oscars. She absolutely won the red carpet.

    http://www.heatworld.com/images/125217_615x2000_STD/2014/2/Images/Gallery/best-23.jpg

  37. smcollins says:

    I have to admit that I loved the squinty-eyed, lemon-pucker Renee, but she doesn’t look too bad with the “new” eyes. After reading some of the comments about it possibly being medically necessary I can understand why she did it (if that’s the real reason). I don’t see it as a career killer. She’s a very talented actress and I think the second act of her career won’t disappoint.

  38. To Me says:

    To me she always looks uncomfortable and awkward with herself. And her eyelift still hasn’t settled back.

  39. From North of Boston says:

    Without captions, I would never have guessed this was Renee. She doesn’t look like herself anymore. It’s not just her eyes, it seems other parts of her face have shifted around.

    In these picks, she looks like a cross between Connie Britton (Mrs Coach!), Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts. There doesn’t seem to be any Renee Zellweger in there. Whatever reason she made the change, it’s a pity.

    • Bob Loblaw says:

      Eyes are different, chin is different, lips are different and her face is more oval where it used to be a little more heart shaped. She looks completely different to me and not just because of the bad “gosh, I’m surprised” eye lift.

  40. Dallas says:

    She looks fabulous!!! Perfection….

  41. Andy says:

    She had her upper lids done, no question. If you look at older closeups, you can see she had naturally somewhat hooded, deepset eyes — a lot of skin on the upper lid (Diane Weist, too). As you get older (40’s), this condition gets worse due to gravity, interferes with your vision and makes it quite difficult to apply eye makeup I’m one of those people. Her eyes have not been lifted per se…just all the excess skin removed. She’s also had botox to stop her somewhat exaggerated squint. This is evident in recent video where her smile has little effect on her cheeks or eyes, unlike before. She may also had botox placed specifically to cause her brows to lift a bit, adding to the new ‘wide-eyed’ look. The botox itself strictly a vanity move.

    Note: I just say Firefly and Jayna’s posts above…didn’t mean to be redundant; they are spot on with their comments.

  42. lisa2 says:

    I liked her squinty eyes..

    She doesn’t look like herself any more at all. There was something very unique about her.

  43. Observer says:

    It’s a little sad because she looked so young and cute with the squint…now she just looks like every other bland Hollywood actress over 40.

  44. KelT says:

    She just looks rough. It’s a shame when you do something to try to make yourself look younger, especially when you’re a celebrity and can afford the best, that you come out with such a different rather than refreshed look. The hair in the eyes, shiny face and strange thing she does with her mouth doesn’t help. I love the dress and shoes, though.