The public reacted with shock when Renee Zellweger appeared at the Elle Women In Hollywood Awards in 2014 looking remarkably different in her face. At the time she dismissed the furore as 'silly' and neither confirmed nor denied that she had had any facial reconstructive surgery. With her features still looking strangely different to her 'Bridget Jones' days, she addresses the subject once again.

Renee ZellwegerRenee Zellweger shrugs off criticism for her new look

The 46-year-old actress claimed that she remained oblivious to any kind of criticism of her physical appearance in an interview with 'Today' yesterday (March 26th 2016). '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', she said. '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.'

As much as she insists she isn't exposed to such negativity, she did previously make a comment on circulating rumours that she looked suspiciously different. '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 back in 2014.

Indeed, it's been fifteen years since she appeared in 'Bridget Jones's Diary' and twelve years since the sequel 'The Edge of Reason' and Zellweger isn't often in the public eye, prefering to keep her private life just that: private.

Since the first and second Bridget Jones film, she has appeared in 'Miss Potter', 'Case 39', 'My Own Love Song' and, most recently, 'The Whole Truth' with Keanu Reeves which is expected to hit theaters in June.

Obviously, it's the third instalment of the Helen Fielding character's story, 'Bridget Jones's Baby', that has become probably her most highly anticipated film to date. She will play an older Jones, who has since married Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and has a baby on the way. Hugh Grant will, regrettably, not be making an appearance in this movie but it will star Patrick Dempsey as a brand new character named Jack, and sees the return of Jim Broadbent as Jones' father.

More: Renee Zellweger opens up about new movie 'Bridget Jones's Baby'

'Bridget Jones's Baby' will be released in US theaters on September 16th 2016.