The Internet exploded on Tuesday after actress Renee Zellweger appeared on the red carpet at the Elle Women in Hollywood Awards looking like someone other than Renee Zellweger.

Was is cosmetic surgery? Weight loss? Zellweger told People magazine that she looks different simply because she is healthier and happier and thinks all of the talk about her appearance is “silly.”

“I’m glad folks think I look different!” she said. “I’m living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I’m thrilled that perhaps it shows.”

Zellweger is just now stepping back into the spotlight after staying under the radar since 2010. In the early 2000s she appeared in popular films such as Bridget Jones’ Diary, Chicago, Cold Mountain, and Cinderella Man.

“My friends say that I look peaceful. I am healthy,” Zellweger says of her new look. “For a long time I wasn’t doing such a good job with that. 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.”

Some of that peace comes from her relationship with American musician Doyle Bramhall.

“I did work that allows for being still, making a home, loving someone, learning new things, growing as a creative person and finally growing into myself,” she said. “People don’t know me in my 40s.”

Do you prefer the "original" or "new" Renee? Everyone has been talking about Renée Zellweger's new look. -Toni pic.twitter.com/PheEV6iS7n

— HITS 97.3 (@HITS973) October 23, 2014

In addition to her appearance on the red carpet, Zellweger also made an appearance at the Walk to Defeat ALS where an onlooker said she was perfectly recognizable in a blue “Team Nanci [Ryder]” t-shirt, ball cap, and dark sunglasses.

“She did look like herself,” the observer said. “Fresh-faced, cheerful. Everyone knew it was Renee Zellweger.”

Reese Witherspoon, Renee Zellweger, Emmy Rossum & Katharine McPhee Walk to Defeat #ALS! http://t.co/g2h9D55JwF pic.twitter.com/hN9HF2Y9tr

— StarPower (@StarPowerOrg) October 22, 2014

Back in 2002 Zellweger told Entertainment Tonight that she had no intention of changing her appearance but, when asked if she would consider getting an eye lift or other procedure, said, “I don’t know. I’m not there yet.”

“It’s whatever make you happy,” she said. “You for you, not for someone else or what somebody else needs from you. It also has to do with the journey that you’re choosing. What you want out of life, you know? What motivates you?”

However the 45-year-old future star of The Whole Truth is still won’t confirm or deny that she has had plastic surgery. But does it really matter?