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This Is What Janice From ‘Friends’ Really Sounds Like

Can her voice BE any more annoying? Chandler Bing had many girlfriends on Friends, but only Janice could make you cringe as soon as she opened her mouth. Relive the sounds of Janice in the video above!

Maggie Wheeler played the standout character on the sitcom for 19 episodes between 1994 and 2004. Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Janice dated on and off for years. Some of their most memorable moments included Chandler pretending to move to Yemen so he didn’t have to break up with her, and Janice cheating on him with her ex-husband, The Mattress King owner Gary Litman.

David Schwimmer as Dr. Ross Geller and Maggie Wheeler as Janice Litman on ‘Friends.’
David Schwimmer as Dr. Ross Geller and Maggie Wheeler as Janice Litman on ‘Friends.’

Chandler, of course, went on to marry his longtime BFF and apartment neighbor Monica Gellar, played by Courteney Cox. Their friendship was able to survive some tumultuous times, like high school fat jokes and when Monica accidentally sliced off his toe during a Thanksgiving gathering in the ’80s.

Fans of the beloved comedy might be surprised to learn what Wheeler, 55, really sounds like in real life. She opened up about her role during an interview on the British series This Morning on Monday, August 22. In the clip above, Wheeler reenacted her “Oh my God!” catchphrase and revealed how Janice’s infamous high-pitched cackle came to be.

Maggie Wheeler attends the 9th Annual Comedy Celebration, presented by the International Myeloma Foundation at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre on Oct. 10, 2015, in Los Angeles.
Maggie Wheeler attends the 9th Annual Comedy Celebration, presented by the International Myeloma Foundation at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre on Oct. 10, 2015, in Los Angeles.

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“I think it was a progression how Janice evolved and how the writers created the character for me. The laugh happened organically in the first rehearsal because I needed to find a way to laugh because Matthew Perry is so funny, and working with him — I knew right away, I thought, ‘This guy is going to make me laugh on set. I’ve gotta be prepared.’ So I created Janice’s laugh just as a safety measure for when Matthew made me laugh.”

She joked, “[The laugh] has a little sheep in there.”

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The Parent Trap actress was never a series regular, but she did feel the love from viewers. “It was always a surprise that [Janice] continued to have a life on the show, and I was always so thrilled every time the writers decided to bring me back,” she said. “It started out as a one-shot deal. Come in, do one episode. And out of that came 10 years of this extraordinary, joyful experience.”

Watch Wheeler in the video above!

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