Rob Huebel is many things. He’s an actor, having popped up in Transparent, 30 Rock, Burning Love and Human Giant. He’s a series creator with his new YouTube Red show Do You Want To See A Dead Body? And he’s also a hero, having saved a woman’s life during our interview.
“I don’t answer that question,” Huebel told Player.One about where he actually finds all the dead bodies in his YouTube series. “It would certainly seem to reason, if you watch the show, that someone would go ‘wait a second. Where are you finding these? How do you know where these are?’ I don’t answer that, and nobody never asks.”
The show follows a fictional version of Huebel as he hangs out with his different celebrity friends, including guest stars Justin Long, John Cho, Alexandra Daddario , Danny Pudi, Terry Crews, Judy Greer and many more. Inevitably, during each encounter, Huebel will ask his pal if they want to see a dead body. From there, hilarity and adventure ensues.
“The idea of it came from a running joke that I would say to friends of mine,” Huebel explained. “I lived in New York at the time and we’d be out late hanging at a bar. Every now and then there would be a lull in the conversation and people would be thinking of the next thing to say. I’d always fall back on ‘Do you want to see a dead body?’ I’d do that for years and years, just being weird.”
That gag eventually turned into a smaller web series for Funny Or Die. “People would keep asking me about it and tweeting me about it,” said Huebel. “We started talking about doing it as a longer TV show, and had a meeting with YouTube Red. They just got it right away. It’s a fairly absurd idea and you’d have to explain it to a lot of executives, there are a lot of people that would be like ‘I don’t get that. That seems disrespectful.’ But YouTube Red got it right away as something super silly and super fun.”
During filming, Huebel learned how cops in southern California like to blow off steam, as well as what’s under Justin Long’s clothes. “There’s one part of the episode [with Long] where we have to walk across a nude beach,” he said. “Of course, the laws of nude beaches dictate that you cannot be clothed on a nude beach, you have to be naked.” You can see where this is going already.
“Justin and I take off all our clothes to walk down the beach. Of course, as soon as we take off all our clothes, all these civilians start filming us because they recognize Justin,” said Huebel. “Somewhere out there is a lot of iPhone footage of Justin and myself totally nude walking down the beach.”
During the same episode, the show’s prop dead body was noticed by a passing police cruiser. “We were off shooting and the dead body was laying in the sand unattended. The next thing I knew, I saw these cops pull up and get out of their car and walk over to the dead body,” Huebel said. “They start taking measurements and pictures. We run over there and start explaining the situation. The cops were like ‘Yeah, we know. We’re just taking pictures to send to our cop friends to fuck with them.’ I thought that was pretty funny that the cops in Malibu prank each other with pictures of fake dead bodies.”
Because of these crazy situations, Huebel said he knows he made the right choice by partnering with YouTube Red for Do You Want To See A Dead Body? “Creatively it seemed like a great partnership,” he said of YouTube. “They didn't give us limits creatively.” Yes, this includes full frontal nudity.
So what was that about saving a life? OK, well, “saving” might be a bit of a stretch, but early in our phone interview, Huebel quickly interrupted himself and said he would be right back. “I’m outside my house and a lady tripped and fell,” he told me once he returned. “I don’t think I’ve ever saved anyone’s life before, but it’s nice to be a hero.”
Do You Want To See A Dead Body? is now available to stream on YouTube Red. Two episodes, including the first one, are free right now for those who haven’t subscribed to the service.
