Renée Zellweger claims she was subjected to “international humiliation” when a photo went viral in 2014, prompting people to wonder if she had received cosmetic surgery.

When she walked the red carpet at the ELLE Women In Hollywood Awards in 2014, she had been on a self-imposed sabbatical for several years, and pictures of her new look made headlines around the world.

It was widely assumed that Zellweger had received some sort of cosmetic operation, particularly on her eyes, which had lost their signature squint.

The online backlash prompted Zellweger to defend herself, first in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE and then in an op-ed for The Huffington Post years later. And now, in a new wide-ranging interview with New York Magazine, the Judy actress is speaking up about it again, saying that the experience really helped her liberate herself.

Renée Zellweger | CREDIT: CHARLEY GALLAY/GETTY

“Nothing like international humiliation to set your perspective right!” she said. “It clarifies what’s important to you. And it shakes off any sort of clingy superficiality… that you didn’t have time for anyway.”

“One of the fears that maybe, as artists, we all share — because we have this public experience of being criticised not just for our work but as human beings — is when it gets to be too much, when you learn that your skin is not quite as thick as you need it to be, what is that gonna feel like? Well, now I know,” the actress added. “I got the hardest kick. And it ain’t the end.”

Zellweger explained why discussing surgery can be so distressing. “Well, because there’s a value judgment that’s placed on us. As if it somehow is a reflection of your character — whether you’re a good person or a weak person or an authentic person,” she explained.

“[There was an] implication that I somehow needed to change what was going on because it wasn’t working,” she says. “That makes me sad. I don’t look at beauty in that way. And I don’t think of myself in that way. I like my weird quirkiness, my off-kilter mix of things. It enables me to do what I do. I don’t want to be something else. I got hired in my blue jeans and cowboy boots with my messy hair. I started working like that. I didn’t have to change to work. So why was I suddenly trying to fit into some mold that didn’t belong to me?”

Zellweger told PEOPLE in 2014 that while the talk about her appearance was “silly,” she wanted to address it because “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.”

“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,” Zellweger said.

“My friends say that I look peaceful. I am healthy,” Zellweger continued. “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.”

Judy, a biographical drama film about the life of the American singer and actress, stars Zellweger as Judy Garland.