Friends star Janice Hosenstein opens up about her famous laugh

Maggie Wheeler, best known for playing Janice in the 1990s popular sitcom Friends, says the laugh came about organically during rehearsals.

The 55-year-old actress has revealed how her character’s infamous cackle became so popular, reported Contactmusic.

“It was just progression — how Janice evolved, how the writers created the character for me. So the laugh happened organically in the first rehearsal, because I needed to find a way to laugh, because Matthew Perry is so funny,” she said. Talking about her Friends co-star and on-and-off again boyfriend in the show, Perry, she said, “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,” she said. When asked if she knew that Janice would become one of the show’s most memorable characters, she said it was always a surprise that she continued to have a life on the show.