Kimberly Williams-Paisley Opens Up About 'Terrifying' 2 Years She Couldn’t Speak: ‘I Felt Trapped in My Own Body’ (Exclusive)

• Kimberly Williams-Paisley suddenly lost her voice in 2022 and was unable to speak above a whisper for nearly two years
• The According to Jim the actress felt ‘invisible’ and ‘trapped’ as she searched for answers. She was eventually diagnosed with a partially paralyzed vocal cord and underwent surgery in August
• Her husband Brad Paisley and their two teenage sons helped her with support along the way

Kimberly Williams-Paisley comes to say hello to a People photo crew in front of her house near Nashville and rolls down the window with a smile.

Next to the actress sits a curious passenger: an almost life-size white plastic swan, hollowed out with a hole in its back. Noticing the quizzical looks, Williams-Paisley stroked the swan. “She’s my support animal,” he says simply, deepening the mystery.

Kimberly Williams-Paisley shares her story in PEOPLE this week.

Brian Doben

Later, the actress demonstrates the purpose of the bird: tilting the swan on its side, she holds the neck like a handle and places the opening next to the ear as if listening to a huge shell. Then she speaks into the hollow, her voice amplified as it echoes.

“It helps me hear my voice,” explains Williams-Paisley, 53, who uses the swan to boost her confidence before public speaking. “I can relax because I know it’s there.”

It wasn’t painful for a long time. In the fall of 2022, her voice inexplicably disappeared — and for nearly two years she was unable to speak above a whisper. “I felt trapped in my own body,” says the Father of the bride star.

Kimberly Williams- Paisley and her support swan.

Courtesy of Kimberly Williams-Paisley

Suddenly silenced, she had to turn down acting jobs and sometimes even withdraw from family and friends, despite the constant support of her husband, singer Brad Paisley, and sons Huck, 17, and Jasper, 15. “There was so much shame,” she says. “I felt invisible.”

Before she finally received surgery in August to correct the underlying problem — partial paralysis of her left vocal cord — she discovered a new inner strength as she relentlessly searched for answers. “I had to fight to be heard,” she says. “Now, no matter what my physical voice is like, my voice underneath is stronger. I feel safer. I know myself better.”

Miley Cyrus, Céline Dion and other stars who had to recover from vocal cord injuries

It began in November 2022, when Williams-Paisley had just taken the stage with her sister, actress Ashley Williams, to greet guests at their annual Alzheimer’s fundraiser, ALZ’s closing dance party. The event is in honor of their mother, who died of dementia in 2016. “I put the microphone to my mouth, but nothing came out,” she says. “It was terrifying.”

Kimberly Williams-Paisley (center) with siblings Jay and Ashley Williams at a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association. Dance to End ALZ, in November 2022.

Terry Wyatt/Getty

She had felt a weakness in her voice in previous years, but nothing like this. At first she assumed she had strained her voice: “I thought, ‘I need some hot tea and a rest for my vocal cords.’ “But days went by, and then weeks, and she still only managed to hear a low whisper. “I started blaming myself — ‘I’m not breathing properly, I’m not relying on my vocal training,’” she says .”

She consulted a voice coach, along with acupuncture and massage, but nothing helped. Two months later, in January 2023, at the premiere of her Netflix movie Gone dogWilliams-Paisley stepped onto the red carpet and panicked, realizing it was too loud for her to do interviews. “I sounded weak, but I didn’t feel that way,” she says. “I went to the bathroom and cried, and several friends held my hand.”

She began to feel the strain and worrisome symptoms began to appear: “Days when I didn’t want to do anything. Days when I was extra tired. Cycling thoughts on anxiety in the middle of the night. I wouldn’t say I was clinically depressed, but I was sad.”

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In early 2023, she made an appointment with the Vanderbilt Voice Center, which has treated some of the biggest names in Nashville, from Johnny Cash to Wynonna Judd. Doctors discovered that her neck muscles were so tight that her vocal cords were barely visible. “When we first saw her, it was difficult to tell what was happening with the vocal cords themselves,” says Dr. Gaelyn Garrett, Voice Center’s executive medical director.

The actress was diagnosed with muscle tension dysphonia, which means “the muscles in my neck were tightening to help my vocal cords hit each other,” says Williams-Paisley.

The first step was to “get your body to unlock”. Vanderbilt put her in physical therapy and sent her to a specialist who helped her align her body and gave her a mouth splint at night to relax her muscles. Over the next year, she tried a long list of traditional — and unorthodox — solutions, including antidepressants, Invisalign braces, a vegan diet, hypnosis, psychics — even an astrologer.

Despite her best efforts, her voice still hasn’t returned. She refused invitations, job offers and avoided social functions. “I like evening parties and socializing with people, but I didn’t want to go out,” she says. “I couldn’t be part of the conversation.”

For a while, she was convinced that her voice was gone forever. “There were days when I grieved and cried,” says Williams-Paisley. I asked myself, ‘Who am I without my voice?'” She began to believe that her acting career might be over, so “I started to think of other ways to express myself.” She decided to turn to writing and completed two screenplays during her quiet period.

At home, her husband Brad (52) tried to help. “I would give her advice: ‘Do this vocal warm-up with me,'” he says. “I stepped on it so much!” But it also brightened the mood. “He makes me laugh so well. It’s a gift,” she says.

Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Brad Paisley.

Kimberly Williams-Paisley/Instagram

Their two boys, she says, “have seen me at my most vulnerable.” And they would help her if they could by gaining someone’s attention for her: “They were great cheerleaders for me. When I saw them hugging me, I felt less alone.”

Another source of comfort was the work she did with Brad at The Store, a nonprofit free grocery store they opened together in 2020 to address food insecurity. “It felt good to dedicate myself to serving and helping others,” she says.

Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley volunteer at their nonprofit, The Store.

Image by Derek Cressman courtesy of The Store

By the beginning of this year, her months of hard work to realign her body and relax her neck muscles had paid off. When she returned to Vanderbilt in January to have her throat re-examined, they were finally able to see her vocal cords and determined that her left cord was not connecting to her right, possibly due to a virus. “When I got that diagnosis, my body was able to relax in a whole new way,” she says. “Shame and guilt dissipated. It was mostly a technical problem, not something I did wrong.”

Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley gave 400 families holiday gifts through a free toy store

In August, Williams-Paisley underwent a medializing laryngoplasty, a three-hour procedure in which her weak left vocal cord was moved closer to the right. Immediately after the operation, her voice returned. “I couldn’t believe it was true,” says Williams-Paisley.

Today, her voice is “much better” but not perfect: “I still can’t shout down the road. And at the end of a long day of talking, I’ll sound a little hoarse than before, but I think that’s sexy,” she says. “And I’ve learned that when you speak more quietly, people lean in, which is also not bad.”

Kimberly Williams-Paisley photographed for PEOPLE at home outside Nashville in November 2024.

Brian Doben

She maintains a regular meditation practice to help manage stress, makes sure to warm up her voice — and is back at work, as host of the third season of the Fox reality show A farmer wants a wife, premiere on March 20. She brought her swan to the set and used it to practice her leading voice before the first day of shooting. “I was nervous and if I’m afraid that my voice won’t be there, I might go back to my old habits,” she says. “The swan helps me hear my voice and not get tense. Before I went on camera, I said, ‘Hey, we got this.'”

And while she’s overjoyed to have made it through her ordeal, she’s learned valuable lessons along the way. “I feel empowered now,” she says.”I don’t want to leave things unfinished. I never want to take my voice for granted—and I want to be bold in using it.”

For more on Williams-Paisley, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

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