The Science Behind Renee Zellweger's New Face

Photographs of actress Rene Zellweger at the Elle magazine's Women in Hollywood awards this week, showing her dramatically different appearance, have sparked the Internet's interest.

The 45-year-old actress looked almost unrecognizable to fans who know her best from her earlier movies such as "Jerry Maguire" and "Bridget Jones's Diary." But two cosmetic surgeons told Live Science that Zellweger's transformation could be the result of relatively minor procedures, as well as weight loss and normal aging. (Zellweger herself has attributed her changed appearance to lifestyle changes and natural aging.)

Zellweger looks so different because her most distinctive features are the ones that changed dramatically, said both Dr. Michael C. Edwards, the president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, and Dr. Stuart Linder, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, California. [7 Plastic Surgery Myths Revealed]

It doesn't seem likely that the actress had an invasive surgery, such as a mini-facelift, done, Edwards said. Still, "it's a pretty remarkable change," he said.

Eyes make the face

The biggest difference in Zellweger's appearance is around her eye area, Edwards said. The actress always had very distinctive, heavy eyelids.

"That's what made her Renee Zellweger," Edwards told Live Science.

But in the recent pictures, her eyelids look like they contain less fat, and the brows look a little bit lower, Linder said. "The face looks fuller in the lower third, and the eyes have totally changed what they originally looked like," he said.

"I feel that her brows are positioned differently," Linder told Live Science. Compared with images from just a year ago, "The lateral brow is lower than it was in previous photos."

A procedure that removes excess skin from the upper eyelids can sometimes make the brows fall, Linder said. "Some would say that may be a telltale sign of an upper-lid operation called a blepharoplasty," he said.

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The Science Behind Renee Zellweger's New Face