Renée Zellweger Says 'Turning 50 Felt Like a Whole New Beginning': 'I've Earned My Power'

Renée Zellweger is getting better — and happier — with age.

In a new interview with The Sunday Times, the actress, 53, shared how she has learned to accept getting older and how she enjoys aging each and every year.

Noting that she "loved" turning 50 back in 2019, Zellweger said the milestone "felt like a whole new beginning without the nonsense, the point where you can stop listening to all those voices in your head and all those expectations and projections people have of you and become more authentically yourself."

"Like, good luck all you suckers out there because you've got to survive a lot to get to my age, and I've earned my power and voice," she continued.

"As long as we buy into the whole idea that society is obsessed with youth, then we perpetuate it," Zellweger added. "Okay, so you want to look good? So go get your hair done or your skin fixed or have that day at the spa or whatever it is that makes you feel great. But let who you are and what you contribute and how you represent yourself at that age lead."

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Zellweger also revealed her feelings about beauty ads that feature anti-aging products, calling them "garbage."

"All those ads telling us we don't need to look our real age if we just buy all their creams and their fixes and all that garbage they want to sell us? I'm like, 'What, you're saying I'm not valuable any more because I'm 53?' Is that what you're saying?" she said in her interview with the Times.

"There is a big difference between being your absolute best, most vibrant self and wanting to be what you're not," continued Zellweger.

She added: "To be vibrant and beautiful you must embrace your age, otherwise you are living apologetically and to me that's not beautiful at all."

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Elsewhere in her interview, the actress also discussed The Thing About Pam, the NBC crime drama which she starred in and executive produced.

Speaking about the criticism she received for wearing a suit on the show to make her appear larger, Zellweger told the Times that she tried to be "respectful and responsible" about it.

"There's always a limit to how much you can establish an authentic approximation without being distracting," she said.

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Zellweger previously opened up to PEOPLE about how physicality shapes her acting in an interview at the For Your Consideration event for her NBC miniseries in May.

"It's just another tool really, isn't it, to have the presentation match the narrative," she explained. "I enjoy it because it makes it easier to transcend when you're telling the story on the day. I love it because it feels like a safe space to hide."

"I like [transforming myself] because the process is, when you're preparing, it's sort of a series of goals that you're trying to create this space, where you can tell the story, and that's such a big part of it," added Zellweger. "And when it starts to come together, you can just tick the boxes as you get closer and closer to what it is, to creating this space to tell the story. So it just feels like, I don't know, that you've achieved what you've set out to do as it starts to come together and it's very helpful."