Renee Zellweger on scrutiny over weight gain: Why does it matter?

In an interview with British Vogue published online on June 6, 2016, Renee Zellweger opened up about her six-year absence from Hollywood, saying "it was time to go away and grow up a bit.”

Actress Renee Zellweger, who is making a return to the big screen in Bridget Jones’s Baby, has slammed critics for scrutinising her weight gain for the film.

In an interview with British Vogue published online on June 6, 2016, Renee Zellweger opened up about her six-year absence from Hollywood, saying "it was time to go away and grow up a bit.” (AP)

Zellweger, who is making a comeback after a six-year hiatus from Hollywood, had to gain weight for reprising her role as Bridget Jones in the third instalment of the Bridget Jones film franchise. However, she did not think that gaining weight for her role was a big deal, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Read: Here’s Renee Zellweger in first look of Bridget Jones’s Baby

“I put on a few pounds. I also put on some breasts and a baby bump. Bridget is a perfectly normal weight and I’ve never understood why it matters so much,” Zellweger told Vogue Britain. “No male actor would get such scrutiny if he did the same thing for a role.”

Zellweger’s appearance made headlines in 2014 after social media commenters said she was unrecognisable. She attributed the change in her looks to “a more fulfilling life.”

The actress also explained the reason for her absence from the big screen. “As a creative person, saying no to that wonderful once-in-a-lifetime project is hard. But I was fatigued and wasn’t taking the time I needed to recover between projects, and it caught up with me. I got sick of the sound of my own voice. It was time to go away and grow up a bit,” Zellweger said.

The 47-year-old tells British Vogue she “found anonymity” during her time off so she could not be defined by her image and have exchanges with people on a “human level.”