The Actress Who Played Janice Explains That Laugh
Janice Will Live On In Infamy
It's safe to say that actress Maggie Wheeler's most famous role was as Janice on "Friends", which just celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Wheeler played Chandler's ex-girlfriend, Janice, who, at nearly every entrance she had on the show, would begin with that infamous "Oh. My. Gawd." line.
If You Saw Janice, You Heard the Laugh
And if it wasn't that opening, it was The. Laugh. that was Janice's defining characteristic.
It's difficult to even explain it; the sound was like a high-pitched, rapid laugh that would cause the rest of the characters, and the audience, to automatically cringe upon hearing.
Good Going, Matthew Perry
But how did she create it?Wheeler says it was more of a safety measure than for a laugh factor, though it worked out for her in both regards.
She spoke to "Today" about it.
“(It) happened organically in the first rehearsal, because I needed to find a way to laugh, because Matthew Perry is so funny.
“Working with him, I knew right away, I thought, ‘This guy’s gonna make me laugh on set. I’ve got to be prepared. What am I going to do?’ I created Janice’s laugh just as a safety measure for when Matthew made me laugh.”
We would have thought it would be more complicated than that but it seems like this is all Matthew Perry's fault.
