Here's what Janice from Friends has been up to
26 May 2021, 12:23
OH. MY. GOD.
Since it first aired back in 1994, the cast of Friends have shot to astronomical levels of fame.
Of course the main six - Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Le Blanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer - are now Hollywood royalty, but there are many other actors in the show who have gone on to carve successful acting careers for themselves. Most notably, the actress who played Janice.
Love her or loathe her, there's no denying Janice played an integral part of the series, throughout its ten seasons.
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So, here we take a look back at her character in the show - and cover what she's been up to since the finale.
HBO release trailer for Friends: The Reunion
Who played Janice in Friends?
American actress Maggie Wheeler, 59, is the woman behind one of the most iconic Friends characters: Janice Litman-Goralnik.
Speaking to News.com.au, Wheeler explained why she put on the shrill voice Janice became known for in her audition: “I had been on the first season of the Ellen DeGeneres show and I had a great time working on that show – in the beginning it was called These Friends Of Mine – and I was fired from that show, I was devastated."
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She added: “I was so shaken by it, it was an unthinkable thing as an actor, (but) I felt in a way liberated to do the work I wanted to do without fear or favour.
“On any other day I might have done the (Friends) audition differently, but it came hot on the heels of that and I felt free and decided to do what I wanted to do on that day and it worked in my favour.
“(Friends) wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t had to go through the fire.”
In 1990, Maggie married her husband Daniel Wheeler, a famous sculptor. The pair have two children together.
What else has Maggie Wheeler been in?
Whilst Maggie Wheeler is best known for playing Janice in Friends, she has been in lots of other TV shows and movies.
Viewers may recognise her from The Parent Trap, starring Lindsay Lohan. In the 1998 remake, Wheeler plays Marva Kulp, one of the camp leaders.
She's also featured in Will & Grace, Everybody Loves Raymond, Californication and Archer.
When did Janice first enter the scene?
Janice was a steady feature in the sitcom from the start. In season one, she was already going out with Chandler when the story begins.
Desperate to break up with her, he makes several attempts to call things off - but ends up backing out when she bursts into tears.
From Chandler pretending he's moving to Yemen, to him genuinely developing feelings for her in season 3, the pair were the very definition of "on-off".
What happened to her character at the end of the show?
As fans will recall, Monica and Chandler were viewing the house next to theirs in the suburbs, when they suddenly heard Janice's iconic phrase: "Oh. My. God."
It turned out Janice was a prospective buyer and, upon hearing that Monica and Chandler would be her new neighbours, she decided she wanted to put in an offer.
Chandler was then forced to pretend he still had feelings for her (and even shared an awkward kiss) to convince Janice having her as a neighbour would be too much for him to handle.
Reluctantly, she changed her mind and left her ex and his new wife in peace.
Will she be on the Friends: The Reunion episode?
The full trailer for the reunion episode was revealed on May 19 - and in it, we catch a glimpse of Maggie. You can watch the clip at the top of this article.
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Friends: The Reunion airs on HBO Max on May 27.
