Renée Zellweger reveals the truth behind THAT bizarre new look!

Renée Zellweger caused a bit of an Internet frenzy earlier this week when she appeared on the red carpet looking absolutely nothing like herself.

The actress appeared at the Elle Women in Hollywood Awards in California, her first major public event in quite a few years. The complete change in her facial shape led many people to question if she had taken plastic surgery to excess.

However Renée says she's delighted with the attention – and says her new look is a sign of a more content mind and body. "I'm glad folks think I look different! I'm living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I'm thrilled that perhaps it shows," she told People magazine.

The Bridget Jones' Diary star admitted she knew that people might have been shocked by her appearance as she has been out of the limelight for so long. "People don't know me in my 40s. Perhaps I look different. Who doesn't as they get older?! Ha. But I am different. I'm happy."

Hmmm… we're not sure happiness is the only thing contributing to your new image though, Renée!

The 45-year-old actress also confessed she had taken some time to relax after a chaotic few years. "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."

Renée revealed she had decided to speak out about her image change to stop people making up their own stories. "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."

We're glad Renée's doing so well, but it's going to take some time to get used to her drastic new look!