‘I Think You Should Leave’ Car Focus Group Star Reveals What ‘Really’ Went on Behind the Scenes
Netflix I Think You Should Leave “Car Focus Group” breakout star Ruben Rabasa shared what really went on behind the scenes of the viral sketch, slamming (joking) about how the chair he sat in during the sketch “f**king cut me.” Rabasa’s memorable character offered focus group ideas for a new car that included no space for a mother-in-law. Plus the suggestion for a secure steering wheel. “A good steering wheel that doesn’t fly off when you’re driving,” he said in the sketch. He also mocked “Paul” played by co-creator Tim Robinson’s partner Zack Kanin.
And while Rabasa delivered a highly entertaining performance, he shared in a parody video that the thing that stood out in his mind about filming was sustaining a massive gash on his leg, due to the chairs they sat in for the sketch. He recounted his reaction to being cut in the chair in a parody video that could almost be bonus footage to the sketch. He even got the owner of the chair manufacturer to admit he “hated” his job.
‘I Think You Should Leave’ Car Focus Group turns bloody behind the scenes
Rabasa said in a Netflix video, “I was so mad! And the gash on the cut was so bad. So I called the company that makes the chair. Tuffman Chairs,” he said. Sounds legit. “Because it says on the chair, ‘If you have a big problem with the chair, call this number.”
Of course, that’s exactly what Rabasa did. Why? “Because it f**king cut me [maniacal laugh]. I’d say that is a problem. This guy Ernie, who owns the chair company answered.” Rabasa reiterated his anger about how badly the chair cut him.
“And he said, ‘Are you kidding me?'” Rabasa recounted. “He asked me how bad it is. I said, ‘For a chair, it’s pretty f**king bad.’ And he just quietly said, ‘godd***it. That sucks so bad that our chairs are doing that!'”
Does Ruben Rabasa get the chair manufacterer to admit wrong doing?
Then the exchange got weird (weirder). “He said, ‘This is bad news,'” Rabasa continued. “‘This a bad news.'” The phone goes quiet. Ernie wondered if Rabasa could walk. But even so “it shouldn’t gash you up.” Then added, “I literally don’t know what to say.”
So Ernie said, “‘What a sh*tty thing to happen! It sucks,'” Rabasa shared. “Ernie says, ‘I’m mad that chair ripped you up. People are going to come to me and say has this chair ever ripped anyone up? What am I gonna say? Pretend I didn’t hear them? Yes. That’s what I’ll do. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear them.'”
But then Rabasa said the conversation turned darker with Ernie sharing that he “hates” working at Tuffman Chairs. And, “I’m gonna quit.”
‘I Think You Should Leave’ Car Focus Group made Ruben Rabasa a breakout star
“I say, ‘Ernie, don’t you own the store?'” Rabasa replied to the comment Ernie would quit. “And he says so quietly, ‘I don’t give a f**k.'”
“And that’s what I remember about filming!” Rabasa said.
Rabasa chatted with Vulture about his newfound fame. “I was walking down the street and two people stopped me!” he recalled. “‘I want to take a picture with you!’ they said. I forgot already about the show [laughs]!” He then shared his real experience filming the sketch. And he never mentioned being violently slashed by the chairs. But he’s a pretty tough guy. He appeared in six episodes of Miami Vice but shared, “I got killed in four.”
