Kimberly Williams-Paisley Shares Secret to 23-Year Marriage With Brad Paisley

Kimberly Williams-Paisley said the secret to her 23-year marriage to Brad Paisley is simple: don't leave.

"I heard Jamie Lee Curtis say recently, the secret is 'Don't leave.' I thought that was really, actually brilliant," Williams-Paisley told Fox News Digital at the red carpet for the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood. "Yeah, just know there's gonna be ups and downs and don't give up. That was our secret."

The actress said the couple stays deliberate about time together despite busy careers. "We find time, we have to be deliberate about it," she said. "We're married 23 years now. And we've also, there's times when we're busier and times when we're not. And right now I'm busier and, you know, he's about to start a tour this summer, which will make him busy. But when we have the downtime, we really make the most of it."

Paisley gave her a handwritten letter for their anniversary this year. "He wrote me a letter that was really sweet, and that was a surprise, because he hadn't written me a romantic letter in a long time, and it meant a lot to me," she said.

Williams-Paisley also spoke about a recent health scare. She was diagnosed with partial vocal cord paralysis and could not speak above a whisper for two years. After an 18-month search for answers, she had multiple vocal cord surgeries and received an implant.

"Don't give up, same advice," she said she would tell others facing health struggles. She added that the search led her to start meditating, lift weights, and eat better. "I started a regular meditation practice, I started really lifting weights in earnest, I started eating better, all these things, trying to find the answer to my vocal cords," she said. After surgery she kept those habits and said they changed her life.

"I'm really fortunate that there was an answer for my condition," she said. "I feel more grounded, I feel more centered, I feel like I know myself better." She added that she now sees "blessings in any sort of challenge."

Williams-Paisley also reflected on her breakout role in "Father of the Bride" at age 19, which she presented at the festival. She worked with Steve Martin and the late Diane Keaton. "They were so wonderful. They were just really supportive and showed me the ropes," she said. Martin advised her to "get a good therapist," and she called the tip "really good advice." She said Keaton was "very down-to-earth and easy to talk to" and helped her handle the experience.