‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ Star Renee Zellweger Reacts To Face Shaming Comments

Bridget Jones’s Baby actress Renée Zellweger has returned to acting after taking a six year hiatus and her re-emergence on the big screen has sparked a buzz about the change in her appearance. For someone who has always had a very distinctive look, stemming from the melding of genes from her Norwegian mother and Swiss father, the sudden change is shocking to her fans and to media critics, but Zellweger reportedly isn’t listening.

Renée Zellweger Responds To Criticism Over Her Changed Appearance

Renée calls it chatter, when she refers to the comments she receives about her changed appearance, but she’s perhaps too polite to call it what it really is: rude, insulting criticism. Still, Zellweger’s own remarks on the topic, as cordial as they are, betray her righteous irritation with the obsession many in the media and the public have on her face.

The Bridget Jones’s Baby actress faced direct comments and questions put to her just as the rumors about botched plastic surgery procedures began circulating and she was again confronted with similar gossip. Today show host Sheinelle Jones recently asked her how she dealt with such gossip. Even after six years, Zellweger can’t seem to distance herself from those who would criticize and shame the Bridget Jones actress.

“It’s not really part of my life. It’s part of the job that I don’t really experience, except when I step into this arena,” 46-year-old Zellweger says in response.

Renée subtly throws shade at those who would dwell on her looks, as she points out that it’s not an issue for her. Zellweger says it’s never on her mind, until a reporter or a talk show host makes a point of bringing it to her attention.

“In my home I’m not aware of it. I don’t do any kind of social media, so I don’t see it. I like to have – I guess you would call them real experiences.”

Zellweger adds that she’s happy with the way in which her happier and healthier life has affected her looks. Without addressing rumors of plastic surgery, Zellweger says she’s pleased with her face just the way it is.

“It seems the folks who come digging around for some nefarious truth which doesn’t exist won’t get off my porch until I answer the door,” Renée remarks.

Renée Zellweger Debuts Bridget Jones’s Baby Trailer

This is the third time Zellweger is taking on the role of Bridget Jones, having previously starred as the title character in Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004). The third installment finds Zellweger’s character, now in her 40s, pregnant and still hoping for that fairytale ending, though Renée Zellweger hints that her character might not find life quite as blissful as she hopes by the end.

Complicating matters is the fact that Bridget isn’t quite sure who fathered her unexpected bundle of joy. Thinking back on who might be daddy to the new baby, Jones says there’s an equal chance that it’s either her most recent ex, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), or her new love interest, Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey).

Emma Thompson plays an integral part in Bridget Jones’s Baby as the OB-GYN to Zellweger’s character.

Following 2010’s My Own Love Song, Renée took a break from the spotlight, perhaps intending to pursue another career or perhaps planning to one day return to her on camera career. Whatever Zellweger had intended, she returned to Hollywood with Bridget Jones’s Baby and already has two more films planned. Zellweger will follow up the third Bridget Jones film with The Whole Truth, due out later this year, and Same Kind of Different as Me, which is scheduled for a 2017 release.

Bridget Jones’s Baby is scheduled for a September 15 theatrical premiere.

[Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images]