Hallmark Star Kimberly Williams-Paisley's Incredible Transformation

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Kimberly Williams-Paisley on the red carpet at Michael J. Fox Foundation gala

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Kimberly Williams-Paisley is no stranger to television viewers — particularly those who tend to gravitate toward the Hallmark Channel. Since making her first Christmas movie more than two decades ago, the actor has appeared in numerous Hallmark productions, including a few of the network's beloved holiday movies. In addition to her Hallmark work, Williams-Paisley has also built up an association with Christmas in some other projects, including "Nashville Country Christmas" (for the Paramount+ streaming service, directed by her sister and fellow Hallmark star Ashley Williams) and Netflix's "The Christmas Chronicles" and its sequel, "The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two," both starring legendary, though somewhat strange, Hollywood power couple Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell as Santa and Mrs. Claus. 

More recently, she starred in faith-based flick "The Jesus Revolution" and in the heartfelt Netflix family drama "Dog Gone," sharing the screen with Rob Lowe. She's also been tapped to host the third season of Fox reality dating show "Farmer Wants a Wife," marking her first foray into the world of reality TV.

Her fans also know that she's the wife of one of country music's biggest stars, as well as an established philanthropist for whom giving back to her community has become second nature. They may not know, however, all the details of the long and winding journey that's brought her to where she is now. There's much to be discovered, so read on to experience Hallmark star Kimberly Williams-Paisley's incredible transformation.

She began acting professionally at 13

Kimberly Williams-Paisley smiling as a child

Kimberly Williams-Paisley/Instagram

It all began for Kimberly Williams-Paisley on September 14, 1971, the date of her arrival. The oldest of three kids, she was a born performer from an early age. Speaking with Jen Hatmaker on the "For the Love" podcast, Williams-Paisley recalled recruiting her siblings to put on shows for their parents' friends. "So I was the boss and the director and the star, by the way. I had to star," she said, also noting that these were not free performances. "Then we would go around and we'd collect," she added. "It was like 5 cents, 25 cents, I don't know."

According to Williams-Paisley, she was 12 or 13 when she was able to convince her parents to let her audition for acting roles in New York City. She nailed her very first audition, and booked a television commercial. "It was for National Dairy Board, and I was a ballerina in the commercial," she said. "I was so excited. I bragged to everybody that I was in this commercial. I went, it was so much fun. I loved being on a set. Then I wound up getting cut out of the commercial."

Despite being edited out of the final product, she nevertheless received residual checks. "It paid for my headshots, and it paid for all those trips into Manhattan," she remembered. "And then I didn't get anything for a really long time." As a teenager, she eventually landed more TV commercials — typically for products appealing to teens. "I literally did Clearasil, Stridex, OB Tampons," she said. "I did all the uncomfortable products."

She landed her big break with Father of the Bride

Steve Martin as George and Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Annie walking arm-in-arm in Father of the Bride

Archive Photos/Getty Images

In 1990, Kimberly Williams-Paisley was cast in an ABC after-school special, her first screen role that wasn't a commercial. Shortly after, she was attending college at Northwestern when she was cast in a major role in "Father of the Bride," the 1991 remake of the classic 1950 comedy. No mere background player, she portrayed the titular bride, Annie Banks, daughter of the characters played by comedy legend Steve Martin and Oscar-winner Diane Keaton. 

Acting alongside two Hollywood heavyweights in her first-ever movie was daunting for the young actor, who was just 19 at the time. "Well, fortunately, when I auditioned I didn't know that over 500 women had auditioned for this part," she said while promoting the movie on "The Bobbie Wygant Show," admitting she would have been far more intimidated had she known that.

"I was living out a dream I'd had since I was five — acting in a major motion picture alongside remarkable comedians I'd looked up to for years: Diane Keaton, Steve Martin, Martin Short," she told ABC News in 2017. "But much of the time, I felt far away from my family, friends and all that was familiar. And I had no idea what I was doing." She also recounted the sage advice that Martin had given her on their first day on the set: "Welcome to Hollywood. You're going to need a good therapist."

She had a long-running role on sitcom According to Jim

"Father of the Bride" opened the door to Hollywood for Kimberly Williams-Paisley. Projects after that included the film "Indian Summer," the action-thriller "Coldblooded" (co-starring "Beverly Hills, 90210" star Jason Priestley), and, in 1995, "Father of the Bride: Part II." The following year, she starred in "Relativity," a romantic drama series for ABC that was cancelled after a single season. That led to another TV starring role, in the fantasy miniseries "The 10th Kingdom," which aired in 2000.

That all led to her 2001 casting as a series regular in sitcom "According to Jim," a vehicle for "Saturday Night Live" alum/marijuana farmer Jim Belushi. She played Dana, sister-in-law of Belushi's character, a husband and father in suburban Chicago. The show was loathed by TV critics; The Deseret News dismissed the show as "just plain awful," adding, "Heck, this show even manages to make that cute, darling Kimberly Williams ('Father of the Bride') shrewish and unlikable." The show, however, proved to be critic-proof, attracting enough viewers to remain on the air for eight seasons (Williams exited after the seventh).

More than a decade after the show's cancellation, Williams-Paisley shared a photo of herself and co-stars Belushi, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and Larry Joe Campbell via Facebook, revealing how the cast had bonded. "We used to gather at Courtney's house with our spouses and she would make us something delicious to eat," she wrote. "There were times that this cast was the MOST FUN group to play with."

She married country music star Brad Paisley

Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley smiling at the 2002 Grammy Awards

Frank Micelotta Archive/Getty Images

After watching "Father of the Bride: Part II," country singer Brad Paisley developed a crush on the actor then known as Kimberly Williams. "I thought, 'She seems like a great girl — smart and funny and all those things that are so hard to find,'" he told Good Housekeeping. In 2001, he crafted a plan to meet her, inviting her to be in the music video for his single, "I'm Gonna Miss Her." "It felt natural to ask her to be in it," Paisley explained. "Even though I didn't know if she was married, divorced or just out of rehab."

His plan worked; not only did she portray Paisley's girlfriend in the video, she took on the same role in real life shortly after when the two began dating. Eventually, he popped the question, and in 2002 they got married; from that point on, she became known as Kimberly Williams-Paisley, taking on her husband's last name. 

In 2015, Williams-Paisley shared the secret to their successful marriage, which at that point was 12 years in. "No matter what happens in our marriage, we try to find humor in it, even on the darkest day," she said in an interview with Closer Weekly. "Brad's always said, 'If you can laugh about it one day, then why not start now?' He always makes me laugh, so I am grateful for that."

She joined the Hallmark family with The Christmas Shoes

Kimberly Williams-Paisley smiling in front of a microphone in The Christmas Shoes

Hallmark Channel/YouTube

Kimberly Williams-Paisley's long association with the Hallmark Channel extends back for two decades. She first entered the Hallmark universe when she starred in her first-ever Christmas movie for the network, the holiday tearjerker "The Christmas Shoes," back in 2002. Since then, she's continued to star in a plethora of Hallmark productions, including the "The Christmas Train," "A Nashville Christmas Carol," "Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday," and its sequel, "Sister Swap: Christmas in the City." Those Hallmark movies, in fact, have also allowed her to work with her sister, fellow Hallmark star Ashley Williams; not only did the siblings co-star in the "Sister Swap" movies, but Ashley also directed "A Nashville Christmas Carol."

Of course, Williams-Paisley's most notable Hallmark Channel role is attorney Claire Darrow of the "Darrow & Darrow" mystery film series, which she starred in alongside "Hot in Cleveland" alum Wendie Malick, who played her mom, Joanna Darrow, who's also a lawyer. "I love this role and love doing these movies," she told International Business Times. "At the heart of it is the relationship between the mother and daughter ... so it's a multi-generational female-driven show. And I love that about it, as well."

Kimberly Williams-Paisley became a mom

Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Brad Paisley smiling with their baby daughter

Kimberly Williams-Paisley/Instagram

Having settled into married life, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and husband Brad Paisley decided to start a family. They welcomed their first child, son William "Huck" Huckleberry, in 2007. Two years later, his little brother, Jasper Warren, arrived in 2009. 

In 2022, the mother of two teenagers told Fox News about how becoming a mom had enriched her life. "It's the greatest job I've ever had," she gushed. "I love being a mom, and it's been really wonderful to see how they have grown."

One way in which she continues to maintain strong bonds with her sons is by taking each of them with her on solo vacations, something she started doing when they were just four years old. "I think travel is just so important. It's a really big part of our family," she said, noting how instilling a love of travel and experiencing different cultures had opened up how they saw the world around them. Ultimately, she added, motherhood has been both rewarding and a whole lot of work. "It's the greatest pleasure of my life and the hardest thing in my life too," she said. "I just feel so fortunate to be able to get to be a mom."

She had recurring roles in Nashville and Two and a Half Men

Jon Cryer and Kimberly Williams-Paisley smiling in Two and a Half Men

Warner Bros. Television/YouTube

After getting married, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and husband Brad Paisley moved to Franklin, Tennessee, a charming small town not far from Nashville. "Tennessee feels like home," she told Southern Living. That proximity to Nashville was a key aspect in her decision to take a recurring role in TV drama "Nashville," which was set and filmed in Music City. Cast as scheming Peggy Kenter, Williams-Paisley eagerly jumped on the chance to play a conniving villain in the soapy series. "It's fun to branch out a little bit," she explained in an interview with Big Frog 104. "But I get so many people now coming up to me on the street saying, 'I'm mad at you.' I've never had that reaction before."

After her "Nashville" character made a fatal exit, Williams-Paisley then boarded "Two and a Half Men," which had recently rebooted itself with Ashton Kutcher after Charlie Sheen was fired from the show. She recurred in several 2014 episodes as Gretchen, a new love interest for Jon Cryer's character, Alan. As a bonus, her husband appeared in the Season 11 finale, playing Gretchen's ex-husband, Derek, whose arrival quashes her plans to marry Alan.

She shared her mother's battle with dementia in a New York Times bestseller

Kimberly Williams-Paisley smiling with her mother

Ashley Williams/Instagram

In 2017, Kimberly Williams-Paisley wrote a book. This was no Hollywood tell-all, but was instead her own deeply personal story of losing her mother to early-onset dementia. In that book, "Where the Light Gets In: Losing My Mother Only to Find Her Again," she detailed how she and her siblings struggled with their mother's decline and eventual death. "We had a really tough time with the dementia," she said when interviewed on the "For the Love" podcast.

According to Williams-Paisley, the origin of the book came from a 2014 article that she'd written for Redbook magazine about her mother's affliction, the first time she'd opened up about it publicly. That article led to an outpouring of people contacting her to thank her for being so candid about a topic that, though so many others had gone through, still remained stigmatized. "So I realized that there was a real need for a book like this, and that our story could really help, not only the people in the community, in the dementia community, and the Alzheimer's community, but me! It could help me heal ... " she added. 

As Williams-Paisley explained when appearing on NBC's "Today," writing the book had indeed fueled her own healing journey after her mother's death. "After so many years of feeling like I had to be private and secret, it was just so empowering to be able to take the reins of the story,” she explained. "You know, opening my heart and sharing my journey, and feeling stronger because I've come through the other end."

She became a global ambassador for CARE International

Kimberly Williams-Paisley meeting with farmers in Guatemala

CARE

As a working actor with two children, Kimberly Williams-Paisley's schedule is understandably jam-packed. However, no matter how busy she may get, she's always left time in her life for philanthropy. That was evident when she became a global ambassador for CARE International, a charitable organization focused on saving lives, eradicating poverty, and striving for social justice in developing nations.

In her role with CARE, Williams-Paisley has journeyed to Haiti and Guatemala to investigate the impact of American programs to improve the lives of women and children in those countries. After returning, in 2019 she visited Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. to speak with lawmakers on both sides of the political divide about the importance of maintaining funding for these programs. "When you look at the tens of thousands of dollars this country spends on processing a migrant in the U.S. and sending them back to their country, versus just $1,500 to help a person become self-sufficient in their own country, the significance of this funding can't be overstated," she said, as reported by The Washington Post.

She's continued her association with CARE; in 2024, she visited Honduras to meet with farmers. Accompanied by her 17-year-old son, Huck, she was able to see how CARE programs had been assisting farmers as they cope with climate change.

She and husband Brad Paisley opened a non-profit grocery store

The Store front sign in Nashville

Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Philanthropy isn't something that Kimberly Williams-Paisley keeps to herself. In fact, it's a family tradition that she shares with husband Brad Paisley; in 2020, the couple opened The Store, a non-profit supermarket in Nashville that provides free groceries for those in need. 

The inspiration for The Store came from a family outing to a charity thrift shop in order to teach their sons the importance of giving back by bringing them out of their bubble of privilege to appreciate how lucky they are. "And we came away surprised by what the organization had taught us," Williams-Paisley told Southern Living. "Most people don't want handouts. They want dignity and respect. Most people want to become self-sufficient."

As she explained in a different interview with Southern Living, The Store wasn't just about handing out free food, it's about helping people while allowing them to preserve their dignity. "People are really excited about this concept of dignity around food insecurity because so many people don't feel comfortable when they have to ask for help," she explained. In 2024, the Paisleys opened a second Nashville location of The Store, expanding the project's reach significantly.

She stepped behind the camera as a director, producer, and writer

Kimberly Williams-Paisley posing at the premiere of Jesus Revolution

Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

While most people immediately think of Kimberly Williams-Paisley as an actor, that's actually only one aspect of her multifaceted work within the entertainment industry. Over the years, she's also carved some roles for herself behind the scenes. One of these is directing, having helmed three episodes of "According to Jim" while she was a member of the cast. 

In addition, she's also a producer — and has been since 2003, logging her first producer credit on the made-for-TV movie "Lucky 7." She's also produced several of the projects in which she's starred for Hallmark Channel, including the "Sister Swap" movies, and all the films within the "Darrow & Darrow" franchise. Moreover, she's tried her hand at screenwriting, penning the scripts for two short films: 2006's "Shade" (which she also directed and co-starred in with "Grey's Anatomy" alum Patrick Dempsey); and, in 2007, "Numero Dos."

"One of the perks of producing & acting is getting to cast and work alongside some of our best friends!" she wrote in the caption for an Instagram post from the set of one of the "Sister Swap" movies, featuring former "Saturday Night Live" star Kevin Nealon and his wife, Suki Yeagley, who also appeared in the films.

She underwent surgery after losing her voice

Kimberly Williams-Paisley in hospital

Kimberly Williams-Paisley/Instagram

During the summer of 2024, Kimberly Williams-Paisley took to Instagram to share some surprising news about a recent health crisis. "I've been going through a thing," she began in the lengthy post, accompanying a photo of herself in a hospital bed. As she explained, she had lost her voice two years earlier, and it hadn't returned. After much medical investigation, it was determined that she'd damaged her laryngeal nerve and that surgery was required. 

"I was finally able to have surgery this week at @vanderbilthealth with expert surgeons, & it is sounding so much better!!" she shared. "I have a badass scar that's smiling at me across my neck," she added, with the post also including a photo of that large scar, every bit as gnarly as she described. She also detailed how the experience of being literally voiceless had helped her to improve her life in various ways. "I've healed old emotional wounds," she wrote. "I've become a serious meditator. I'm deadlifting over a hundred pounds. I'm taking better care of my body. I'm managing stress. I'm dissolving shame. I'm feeling more whole, empowered & joyful."

The first person to comment was her husband, Brad Paisley. "This will be a new chapter," he wrote, jokingly adding, "I will miss the silence." She also received an outpouring of support from other members of the Hallmark family, including Nikki DeLoach, Bethany Joy Lenz, Sarah Drew, Holly Robinson Peete, Brooke D'Orsay, and Lacey Chabert, who wrote, "Thank you for sharing your journey. Wow, you are a warrior! Sending you so much love."

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