Jennifer Connelly covers the November issue of More magazine. I know she’s not big gossip material, but she’s so lovely and composed. You never hear any diva nonsense from Jennifer, and she doesn’t call the paparazzi. She simply goes to work and lives her live with the dead-sexy Paul Bettany. This cover is beautiful, and Jennifer isn’t overly airbrushed, which is nice because she’s 44 and looks realistic for that age. But damn, is she ever beautiful? I used to have a major girlcrush on her during the Labyrinth days.
These are only a few interview excerpts, but they’re notable. For one thing, Jennifer puts the smackdown on the “sad” obsession with youth. She wants to look her age and refuses to ever go under the knife. There’s also the tragically romantic love story of how she and Paul first got together. They were friends, and he realized her loved her on 9/11 when he was afraid she was dead. Take it away, Vision:
Jennifer’s feelings on plastic surgery: “We equate beauty for women with youth, and that’s sad. It’s a shame it’s so hard for so many of us to appreciate the beauty of an older woman and to accept it in ourselves. I don’t want to erase my history on my face.”
Paul Bettany’s story: On September 11, 2001, the actor Paul Bettany was buying groceries in a Tuscan hill town when he noticed a crowd around a television in a cafe. The group was too quiet to be soccer fans. He joined it in time to see United Airlines Flight 175 hit the World Trade Center. For the next two days, he found himself dialing and redialing a friend who lived with her son in downtown Manhattan, the actress Jennifer Connelly. She and Bettany weren’t romantically involved, but after working together in the true-life drama A Beautiful Mind, they’d kept in touch. At about hour 48, he asked himself why he was so desperate to reach her. “It hit me, like, Ohhh, no,” Bettany recalls in his fine-sandpaper voice. “I was bitten.” In a flash he knew that if Connelly was alive, he was going to marry her. On January 1, 2003, he did.
[From More]
Oh, I’ll bet Bettany was frantic with worry. In those first days after the Twin Towers fell in New York City, no one could reach anyone. The entire situation was a catastrophe, and that was the very moment when Bettany decided he couldn’t live without Jennifer. I love this couple so much.
Photos courtesy of More & WENN
She really is so beautiful and striking. It would be terrible if she messed with her face.
She is stunning . Love them as a couple. I find his sexy .
I would be willing to bet that she has had work done by a good surgeon with a natural touch.
agreed. does botox count? because few 44 year olds have no “11”s or a completely wrinkle-free forehead.
Totally agree. She’s beautiful and doesn’t look “plastic” but she’s a thin, 44-year old white lady. This is not just make-up.
Yes, she’s had subtle work done. ….botox on the forehead and filler on the nasolabial folds, for sure. She looks great though!
Hmm. I thought she had a nose job.
Regardless, she has always been beautiful.
I thought so too! Her nose was more button like in her labyrinth days.
She’s had a nose job and boob reduction. I don’t fault actresses for surgery because Hollywood is so incredibly hard on women. But just don’t lie about it. I really dislike hypocrites (like Kate Winslet).
Jennifer specifically denied she ever had breast reduction surgery. Sadly her breasts lost their shape after nursing and then she lost considerable weight.
People always seem confused when the fatter nose you have as a child and adolescent with baby fat still on your face changes as you mature and get thinner. I believe her when she says she’s had no plastic surgery.
To round it out, LOL, I know many women her age who have no facial lines needing fillers.
I’d do him in a heartbeat, ginger and all! Love him!
Love this story. Love this woman (I too had a crush on her in Labyrinth. I also had a crush on Bowie – those tights! – I was a very hormonal teen!!)
We want to show Labyrinth to the kids but Mr R says, “we have to sedate Mom first, Bowie’s in it.”
Mr. R is madly in love with Jennifer and has been since Labyrinth as well.
Ha! This sounds very much like my family!
I am you and you are me and we are altogether. No, seriously. Labyrinth and my husband with Jennifer Connolly, me and David Bowie. Dance Magic Dance.
Favorite movie (guilty pleasure). I’m a big Bowie fan, so people assume I love Labyrinth because of him. Actually I love him because of Labyrinth.
She was SO AWFUL in that movie, though! I love her, and I love it, but she was SO BAD! It’s the part where she’s on the steps and yelling at her stepmother. I always watch it and think “She’s an Oscar winner now!”
I always liked Paul Bettany, too. I don’t think I knew they were together before, or I probably did and forgot.
Sigh. I know. My husband rules. 🙂 My teenage daughter and her friends adore the movie and I hear them sing along to the songs on a movie sleepover night. My 10 year old knew the words to ‘Rebel Rebel’ when she was 6. My work here is done people. Time to go and meet the Goblin King!
Love these 2 – such a good couple and good role models. Both very talented actors.
Love them too.
I thought they got together when they made A beautiful mind?! And isn’t there a story that he had a crush on her when she was a child star and he watched her on television?
I think Paul said before that he had a crush on her from the beginning and wanted to ask her out during filming, but Russell Crowe beat him to it. Jennifer and Crowe went out a couple of times and Paul didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere on set. But she was never actually in a relationship with Crowe, so there’s nothing sketchy about it.
Good thing they finally got together, because they seem like a great and solid match.
What? She went on dates with Crowe? Crazy! 😉
That seems weird because Crowe would have been married then, and she doesn’t seem like the type to cheat.
@Lurker – Crowe got married in 2003 and the movie was shot in 2000. He was single back then. Both of them were.
Jennifer never went out with Crowe. Though I think she was friendly, she discussed in an interview how she didn’t hang out with him and others discussing the production said she sort of removed herself from Crowe’s sorta bigger than life circle. In any event, she was in a serious relationship with Josh Charles until he unceremoniously dumped her the night before the Oscars.
Both Paul and Jennifer talked about their friendship before they became romantic and though he wanted to get together with her she declined cause she was till with Charles so she and Paul got to know each other as friends. I remember a picture of them together at an after Oscar party so I assume he moved in on her as soon as he learned Charles was out of the picture.
Jennifer is beautiful beyond words.
Paul is not too shabby either 😀
I wish them the best, stay away from all the Hollywood nonsense.
Me too. They look so good together.
Beautiful and talented couple. Love how they just do their job, keep the media interaction at a minimum and when they speak, I like what they say. I hope she never gives in to the pressure to look like most of HW women with their overfilled cheeks and Joker lips.
+1 They really are a stunning couple, surprising that they get so little play. Maybe because they make a point of living a low-key life with their family.
Well, i always find it problematic if People who did something in the past with their Faces, say they would never do so, and hate the youth-thing in HW.
She had a Nose Job!
She starved herself in that skinny frame (she is naturally very Curvy, before she was an Oscar Winner), this is sort of following the HW path…..
She is Beautiful, no doubt, but i think it is a little bit hypocritical to make that statement…..
There is more treatment than the nosejob, very good natural looking work, and there is Photoshop, so i don’t like the narrative to say the ordinary woman, that HW Actresses look better and Younger, bc they are better. That really bothers me, bc untrue.
They are real working Woman in the same age, not celebrities, looking similar attractive…and younger than their age…..without the beauty-treatments of the rich and the famous.
I’m with you on her weight loss seeming to be her concession to Hollywood standards. She strikes me in recent years as bordering on emaciated and it can’t be healthy.
Jennifer is beautiful but painfully thin. I remember her from the film “Career Opportunities” (awesome 80s flick) and she was very busty and curvy, like @Gwen mentioned. Years later when she drastically slimmed down, I was really shocked it was her.
I was too little to remember Career Opportunities, so I googled it and all I can say is WOW. She looked beautiful back then. She looks very different today and it’s not just ageing. I first saw her in the movie Inventing the Abbotts. I was a girl then and I just thought, wow, I want her body when I grow up. She was so curvy. I was shocked to see her later in her career when she looked so emaciated. Maybe she doesn’t want to use Botox, but she has clearly felt pressure to lose a lot of weight. It’s sad that these actresses don’t realize that they looked a lot better when they were curvier.
That has always confused me – how busty she is with a little weight on her, but when she’s skinny, she’s completely flat chested – like there is nothing there. I’ve never seen such a difference on someone – skinny to heavier or not.
If you saw the Rocketeer (yes I’m that old), she looked fabulous in it! Just like a 30’s/40’s dame! Curvy too.
She also had implants when she was really young and then had them removed. And yes she did have a significant nose job. I also find it hypocritical to make these kinds of statements when you’ve had work done. Better to just keep quiet and own it.
http://celebritysurgerynews.com/jennifer-connelly-breast-reduction/
The article in that link also says that it just could’ve been weight loss and I think it was just that. Because I think she experienced her bigger breasts as a career hindrance and that’s why she slimmed down. She wanted to play more serious roles and her curves would’ve probably put her in the ‘hot girl’ category. It’s not fair, but it’s Hollywood. I think she looks stunning either way.
That’s all BS. She never had implants and she never had reduction surgery. She actually addressed this many years ago and specifically denied it I doubt she’s a liar. She became a runner in her 20s and she had a kid both of which seriously affect your weight and your breasts.
She did have her nose refined at the beginning of her career. And she has stayed extremely thin most of her adult years. But she was tiny in Labyrinth, so it seems like she gained the ‘freshman 15’ or something like that, then lost it.
I have a feeling she is talking about procedures aimed at making her look younger than her years. And I hope she continues not to mess with her face a la Meryl Streep.
…also you can see she’s had good eyework…as much as I can see when the nose starts to look strange is when people may want to consider their options in life…ie tc sb aj…just saying..
Yes, she’s been under both the needle and the knife. I’m the same age as her and have watched her face change majorly over the years.
Nose job, brow lift, Botox, and injectables to smooth out the nasolabial folds just to start. Probably multiple chemical peels and microdermabrasion sessions as well. Plus she got her teeth capped.
The results are fantastic – not sure why she feels the need to lie.
Yes. I googled – obvious nose job. She must have wanted a really pointy nose because her nose was fine to begin with.
Dance magic dance…..great now its stuck. I love these two. I hope they stay together forever.
Jump magic jump.
I wouldn’t want to mess with my face if it looked like her face, but you know it doesn’t…
Yes! Easy for her to talk!
Never say never. When I was her age I said the same thing, and I haven’t done anything, but I’m starting to side-eye my neck. Is that necessary? I ask it.
So true. You get to test your resolve when stuff starts going south and you know a little tweak here and there could make you look so much better.
Preach it! I looked fantastic at 44 as well. I still look good for my age, but I try to avoid looking at my neck too much because it is not going along with the program.
You should really try face yoga or facercise. It looks ridicolous but really helps to lift and tone… check it on youtube! The face has a lot of of muscles so it can be trained like a body and only needs some minutes a day.
Thanks scylla74! I swear by carole maggio’s facercise. If I could just be disciplined enough to do all the exercises every day I’m certain it would help even more.
God yes, never say never. Whatever makes you feel good – go for it. Life’s too short to frown at your reflection.
why would she not be alive though? she had no reason to be at the WTC right? It’s great that they have lasted.
She is gorgeous, but she’s also had a nose job just like Angelina and Jennifer Lawrence. I wish people remembered this when they feel bad about themselves for not being beautiful like the stars!! They can perfect any flaws they may be born with.
Considering the horrific nature of 9/11, I would not blame him one bit for worrying.
Two humongous buildings fell to the ground that day and the pieces, debris and more importantly bodies and spread beyond where the building themselves were. People were working, shopping or just walking and could have been a casualty.
Family members were living on the esplanade at the time. When the towers fell, their windows and doors were blown by the impact and their apartment filled with debris. They had to live elsewhere for a month.
There was a restaurant in the WTC. It was a really hectic time and not being able to contact someone panic sets in and you start to assume the worst. He probably had a hundred scenarios of why she would be there that day running through his mind.
That is a very sweet story. 9/11 was such a frightening and surreal day and I can see how it elicited emotions that were just under the surface. Glad it worked out for them.
Apparently Ed Burns & Christy Turlington as well as Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey had that same realization after 9/11.
And to all the folks shading her for having gotten a nose job: Every actress gets one. Usually at the very start of their career, and to the point where I don’t think they even consider it ‘work’ anymore. And Connelly is allowed to have thoughts about aging even if she had a nose job decades ago.
Nobody said she wasn’t ‘allowed’, Bridget …
Really? You certainly felt it was pertinent to point out her nose job.
Yeah, so? She got a nose job. I stated a well known and obvious fact… where did i say she wasn’t allowed to??
Step back and breathe before you fire off dumb accusations
It was implied when people criticised her for being “a hypocrite”, and you know it. Don’t be so rude.
My brother proposed to his wife after 9/11 too.
I remember that about Ed Burns and Christy Turlington – so sweet! (They better still be together, I have to go check that now.)
They are. Which surprises me, considering that pre-9/11 they had cancelled their wedding because they didn’t really think the other was ‘the one’.
I love that story and this couple. Such a sweet couple and an example of how opposites attract because Jennifer Connelly is very quiet and shy while Paul is the type that will do anything to make you laugh.
Women who don’t mess with their face actually look younger. Am I right? She could easily pass for 34-35, which you can’t say for Kidman, Cox, Winslet and company.
I totally agree. I mean, look at Helen Mirren, she looks awesome for what being 70+? She easily looks about a decade or more younger
I’ve always thought Jennifer was beautiful, but she is too thin. When she was a young actress she had more weight on her and was stunning. She took some weight off and still looked great, but then went too far.
Sometimes you will see her and she’s so thin and it’s not flattering. In the He’s Just Not That Into You movie her face looked haggard, not awful, just a little haggard. She definitely doesn’t use fillers or botox. But I remember thinking if you would just put on even five pounds how much more beautiful and fresher you would look. Sometimes she puts on a few pounds and looks better and is still thin, but they come right back off by the next time I see her. I’ve always felt she had an obsession with staying very thin and never got it, because it’s just not as flattering. I’ve just never gotten how she can’t see it.
Jennifer way too thin – http://i.imgur.com/s2O5Y.jpg
Jennifer when younger.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/Muhulmahay/jennifer-connelly-002u3edit.jpg
Yes, she has lost some weight through the years but honestly, a lot of people do and it’s not always because they’re starving themselves or living unhealthily.
To me, Jennifer looks stunning in the “too thin” picture! Look at those supermodel legs!
It might be that she changed her habits, which is something that often happens when you hit your late twenties/early thirties.
I’ve always been on the thin side and never had problems keeping my weight down. I also did lot of sports when I was a child/teenager.
Then when I started uni I quit being active, I was eating a lot of junk food at different times, so in a couple of years I gained more than 10 kg. I defintely wasn’t overweight, let’s say a bit “plumpy”. My breast were also quite bigger and fuller. I met one of my best friends during that period (21/22 years old), which is when I was most unfit and unwell.
Then, in less than one year I got back on track, I quit smoking, I started exercising regularly and eating less processed food. I also cut sugar off and quickly lost all the extra weight and more. However, BECAUSE of being introduced to each other when I was heavier, my friend assumed that I was developing an eating disorder. Even after several years of seeing me living healthily, never missing a meal and being active, he keeps assuming that one day I suddenly decided to get “skinny” and became obsessed with losing weight. Honestly I don’t care and I like myself way more than when I was curvy. I don’t have anything against being curvier but it just doesn’t work well with all body types. I personally have a small frame, short legs and a round face. When I gain a bit of weight, it goes straight to my (already) round face and I look like a full moon, my legs look even shorter , and my arms get cellulite (they do!!). To sum up, I feel heavy and uncomfortable.
My point is, I like myself more with small breast and stick-thin legs. I don’t obsess about it, but I do what I can to stay at this weight. I feel more beautiful and confident.
There is a big difference between conforming to an imposed standard and ruining your life trying to adhere to it vs. being the best version of yourself!
Thx.
I agree 🙂
If that photo is recent, it’s important to note that she recently starred in Paul’s directorial debut “Shelter” It examines homelessness in New York. She plays a homeless heroine addict and had to lose weight for the part. Anthony Mackie is in it too.
Such a beautiful couple. Jen is a great actress and a great person. She doesn’t need surgery anyway as she is so naturally elegantly striking.
Aw, that story got me all warm and fuzzy.
These two always seem like such a cool couple, just kind of low-key, which is really refreshing.
I like them together. She was incredible in requiem for a dream.
She is an amazing actress, really talented. Can do it all: drama, comedy. I was amazed how great she was in He’s just not that into you. Everyone involved was on a typical romcom level, and Jennifer was like from another movie, so seriously brilliant her acting was. Her full on crazy accusations of the builder “smoking and lying, and smoking and lying” had me jumping with delight. Her character was ten times more complex, interesting and developed than the meatier roles in this film. To me she was just a proof that a talented actor could play anything anywhere – and make it unique and good.
And she seems like an interesting human being. How she escaped all the child actor issues, I don’t know.
She is so insanely beautiful! Talk about winning the genetic lottery. I remember seeing her in Labyrinth and Seven Minutes in Heaven, and wishing I was as pretty as her! I commend her for maintaining such a long, successfully career without all the drama and messiness. She’s a real class act.
Enty had an amazing story about them a few years ago – he was mad because she was wearing a dress that he thought was too short and she was giving it right back to him (sounds quaint in this day and age) and then they stole into the bathroom to makeup and apparently everyone found out her nickname for him – Pooky Bear.
That cover of her reminds me of Ali McGraw circa Love Story. Striking. I love Paul Bettany’s story of realizing he was “bitten”
I don’t think she’s completely unconcerned about her appearance.
http://www.thecelebritysurgery.com/jennifer-connelly-plastic-surgery-step-by-step/
It changed a lot over the past two decades. I personally find her harsh looking at times, and the very low weight doesn’t really help here.
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s8/Scrybe_bucket/RapunzelWIP5.jpg I
When I look at this picture, I can’t help thinking her upper lip is bigger now, too…
So I don’t think she should be too loud about not wanting to ‘erase’ something. She already changed her whole frame a couple of times. She also is only 44…
I’m pretty sure she was sort of sucking in her upper lip in that second photo. It looks pretty obvious.
Well the second pic is a Photoshopped image of her with Kiefer Sutherland’s mouth so I wouldn’t use that as proof of surgery.
The other photos I only see the difference as weight loss. Each picture shows her with and without 10, 15 “extra” (if you want to call it that) lbs on her frame.
I don’t think she’s had anything major done personally. Just light fillers and maybe some light ‘toxing.
LOL’ing at siri for thinking missing the obvious mash-up of Kiefer Sutherland and Jennifer Connelly. Especially because it is titled as such.
Is photoshopping two different images together a thing? It looks bizarre – and they’re for sale!
That is so so so sweet. I am going through a break up right now, so all little gushy romantic stories are getting baby tears. But this takes the cake.
I remember seeing her for the first time in “Once Upon a Time in America” and thinking how gorgeous her face was – I think she was 11 or so at the time. Later, when she was in her 20s, she had the most amazing curves. Sadly, she lost way too much weight lately. She’s still beautiful but looks haggard to me.
That is so darn romantic and they look beautiful together! I’m glad she still looks like herself.
Dunno about nose job, etc, but I do know that she is quite aware that she loses weight under stress, and as of a few years ago, her dad was gravely ill and then died — during which she inadvertently dropped pounds. Not “trying” to “get skinny” to meet some external standards, actually trying to regain weight and well-being after such an engrossing depleting experience.
I remember that about her too. You could see it as she went on her Oscar campaign, she just slowly whittled away.
Lol Siri I was wondering where you could’ve dug up such a horrific photo of Jennifer, when I finally noticed the caption showed it was a mashup of her and Keifer–I had never noticed Keifer’s lips were so ugly!!
Oh, puhleez. Nose job, what else has she had done? I guess she didn’t say she was opposed to plastic surgery just chasing the facelift of youth kind of plastic surgery, but the woman has gone under the knife a couple of times…
exhibit 1 :http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1870707/images/o-JENNIFER-CONNELLY-LABYRINTH-facebook.jpg