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Janice from Friends: "Being Recognized for That Is an Honor"

Season 4 Episode 406
Aired on 08/24/2014 | CC tv-14
For 10 years, Friends dominated television, becoming one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. When it came time to say goodbye, a staggering 52 million people tuned in.

In 1994, during the first season of Friends, actress Maggie Wheeler was cast as Janice, Chandler Bing's fast-talking New York girlfriend with a gratingly distinct laugh. Her character was so well liked that she appeared in nearly every season of the show. In fact, today Maggie says people stop her in grocery stores and airports to ask her to repeat Janice's most famous lines. "People like to hear me say, 'You love me, Chandler Bing. You just don't know you love me,'" she says. "And of course everyone wants to hear the laugh."

Today, Maggie is 53, the director of an African choral music choir and living with her husband and two daughters in Los Angeles. In the video above, she opens up about the inspiration for Janice, how she got the part and whether she worried about being typecast after Friends ended.

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