Janice from ‘Friends’ explains where that infamous laugh came from

It's probably one of the most iconic laughs in showbiz history.

Yes there was Jim Carrey's laugh in Ace Ventura, and sure, Heath Ledger's joker had a pretty infamous cackle. But none have stayed with us all these years quite like that of Janice from Friends. It cut through you like a cheesegrater shreds carrots, and it was so annoying it set your teeth on edge. Even if you've not watched Friends for a decade, we bet you can still hear Janice's laugh ringing in your ears as clear as day. Maggie Wheeler, the actress who played Chandler's nasal love interest, explained how she created the character's famous voice and how that ear-splitting laugh was born.

"The choice of the voice for the character was mine," she told Cosmo. "I made that decision when I went in to audition for the first time. At the top of the page it said 'fast-talking New Yorker', I saw the language, and I just thought yeah, I know that girl. "So I made that choice and it turned out to be the right one. "The laugh was born in the rehearsal process. "In that very first episode that I shot, because Matthew Perry was so very funny and I knew he was going to make me laugh, I thought 'well, I'd better incorporate this into the character because there's no way he's not going to crack me up'. "There was just that one moment where he's drinking all of these espressos and he brings me my coffee and I brought it to my face, I hadn't even got it to my face, when he says 'do you want another one?' And that was the first moment that I just went 'hahahaha'. And I just inserted the laugh into the character."

Janice was only supposed to appear in one episode of the '90s US sitcom, she told This Morning recently. But that famous laugh and her catchphrase 'Oh my God' must have hit a chord, because she went on to become the second most prolific guest actor on the show. Janice popped up in 19 episodes and has appeared in every season of the show at least once. https://youtu.be/Ywtd719FPpM And, in case you didn't know, the actress' voice is totally different in real life. Read more: