Janice Litman is one of the most iconic characters from Friends. Her shrill voice and obnoxious laugh became one of the most cringe-worthy moments in each of her appearances. Just dump her!, we all thought while Chandler Bing struggled to cut ties with his overbearing girlfriend.
Now, it's time to peek behind the curtain. The woman who played Litman, Maggie Wheeler, is here to remind everyone that she does not talk like her character in real life. It was all part of the act.
While on a morning news show in Australia, the actress talked about how her catchphrase ("Oh. My. God.") and that nasally laugh came to be. Turns out, it was all Matthew Perry's fault. Apparently, he was so funny on set that Wheeler was worried she would break character. So she decided to create a special — and memorable — laugh.
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“It was this progression ― how Janice evolved, how the writers created the character for me,” she said. “And so 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’s gonna make me laugh on set, I’ve gotta be prepared. What am I going to do?' So I created Janice’s laugh just as a safety measure for when Matthew made me laugh.”
The hosts asked if she ever tires from being asked to do the Janice voice, and Wheeler said nope, "Never." What a good sport.
Hear Litman's real voice, below.
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