Flying back from Dubai, I had the opportunity to view all of the Bridget Jones movies featuring Rene Zellweger. It gave me an opportunity as a cosmetic surgeon to study her face and form an opinion regarding how her face has changed. As many of you know, she appeared on the Red Carpet a couple of years ago with a dramatic change in her appearance and was harshly criticized by traditional and social media for having cosmetic surgery. As the dance goes, she has vehemently denied having surgery. Before I give my opinion regarding what she has done, let me say that I do so not as a criticism of her. However, I very much think the lack of honesty regarding celebrity nip and tuck does not help anyone. She is an amazing talent. For better or for worse, our actors and actresses represent brands that transcend their acting talents. The brand is the talent, the skill, the personality, and the lifestyle. The public is fascinated and no more so when a celebrity is harmed by cosmetic surgery, or is embroiled in some other scandal.
Before we cast stones, it is essential to understand that we are judging Rene Zellweger through an extended lens of time. It is not like she changed in one movie year. Movie years are different than real life years. Normally in a movie franchise, it is 2 to 3 years between pictures. The first Bridget Jones Diary movie came out in 2001. Zellweger was 38 years old. The second feature of the franchise was Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason in 2004. She was 41. The most recent installment, Bridget Jones’s Baby came out last year in 2016. She was 53. Can we just accept that your face is not going to be as good at 53 as it was at age 38?
It is pretty normal now to get a little work done to maintain appearances. When it is helpful, we hardly notice. However when things don’t go right, there is just no place to hide. Remember, Jennifer Gray and her disastrous rhinoplasty after finding success in Dirty Dancing? Or Meg Ryan’s surgery in 2010, which shocked the public, and no question, contributed to her early demise as a big box office draw? These actors do not have surgery or other services with the aim of damaging their appearance. I think the pubic is fascinated because as much as we worship celebrity, we also take a small measure of joy when a personal weakness is displayed. Cosmetic surgery is common and widely accepted. Celebrity denial that changes in appearance might be the result of surgery has become a type of Kabuki theater. We know they know we know, but the dance goes on. I do think that it is alarming for the public to see actors damaged by cosmetic surgery. After all, these folks have all the money and resources in the world to get only the best of care. If they can’t get good results, what hope is there for the average person?
Now about Rene Zellweger’s face. She says that she is living a healing lifestyle and that is the reason she appears so different than she did say 15 years ago. To be fair, faces can and do change a lot from 38 to 53. For many, despite our best cosmetic surgery efforts, there can be little we can do to prevent evidence of aging. Her face shows clear evidence of not such nice surgical results that have accelerated the changes we now see in her face. When she was younger, she had a wonderfully full eyebrow area. Now it is as if her eyebrows have been sewn to her eyelashes. One sees almost no separation between the two. This is the result of an upper blepharoplasty. With little sub-brow fullness, there is reduced incentive for the forehead muscle to lift the eyebrows. In many photographs, this effect seems to have been made worse with a confused dose of Botox to the forehead. Her cheeks in my opinion are a disaster. They have been filled to the brim with what looks to be an over done Voluma treatments. Volume low in the cheek does not make one more youthful. It can actually make you look older. Sometimes we become invested in our bad treatments like we sometimes get invested in our bad relationships. Yes, even when they are not healthy for us. She could get real help for these issues but one has to first accept that there is a problem. As they say, denial is not just a river in Africa.
If you have had a service or prior surgery that you suspect is not right, you do not have to live with it. There are alternatives. I offer very personalized care and an exceptional eye for facial aesthetics. I can help you achieve the results you have sought even if it has proven to be elusive in the past. Don’t accept cosmetic surgery results that don’t help or make you look older than you are. Call my office to schedule a personal assessment. There is real help for this issues.
About Dr. Steinsapir
Dr. Steinsapir is a much sought after oculofacial surgeon. He is an innovator in minimally invasive cosmetic and reconstructive procedures and has invented new methods for treating with BOTOX, Fillers and cutting edge reconstructive eyelid and midface surgery. He specializes in high precision eyelid surgery and is a leader in correcting prior facial and eyelid surgery, including multiple revised cosmetic eyelid reconstructions. He attended medical school at UCLA and completed an ophthalmology residency at The University of Chicago. He is multiple fellowship trained including three years of fellowship training in oculofacial plastic surgery at UCLA, and a two-year cosmetic surgery fellowship in Rancho Mirage. He is widely published and lectures to other surgeons nationally and internationally. He is an associate clinical professor of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA. His private practice is located in Beverly Hills, immediately serving the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills communities. Additionally, individuals from all over the country and the world regularly come to Beverly Hills for his expert care.
To learn more about Dr. Steinsapir, please contact us today.