‘Maxton Hall’ Star Damian Hardung Discusses Intense Season 2 Challenges

Stewart Clarke

10 January 2025 at 4:24 am·2-min read

Damian Hardung has opened up on filming the sophomore season of Maxton Hall – The World Between Us.

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Avoiding specific spoilers but speaking broadly about his character James Beaufort’s arc in the upcoming series, he said: “I just did the ADR for it and the second season is really dark and [there’s] a lot of grief and trauma in my character.”

He added: “I had a really tough time shooting that, it really pushed me to a point where I’m like: ‘I don’t know if that’s healthy anymore.’ So, I’m really eager to see how that played out on screen.”

Hardung, whose other credits include How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) and Love Sucks, was speaking on the ‘Short Take’ podcast from German Films.

There is still no specific launch date for the new season of Maxton Hall beyond at some point in 2025. The first series of the YA romantic drama was a breakout hit for Amazon. It topped the Prime Video charts in 120 territories making it the streamer’s biggest ever international original series launch.

The UFA Fiction-produced series is based on Mona Kasten’s book trilogy. It follows Ruby Bell (Harriet Herbig-Matten), a girl from a humble background who wins a scholarship to an elite college, and her relationship with the uber-privileged heir James Beaufort.

In a wide-ranging podcast chat, Hardung said he’s naturally optimistic, but shooting some heavy scenes took a toll.

“I have the privilege of having the perspective of enjoying most of the stuff I end up doing, [of having] that lightheartedness, which went away a bit shooting James in the second season. I really tried to get back to that because that’s something very close to me.”

German Films is the organization that promotes film and TV from the country. Unsurprisingly, therefore, Hardung was asked which German talent people should look out for and duly paid tribute to his Maxton Hall co-star: “Harriet Herbig-Matten, she’s just incredible, it’s a true honor to have been able to play that character alongside her. I’ll definitely watch out for anything she does.”

Amazon execs have recounted how filming season two of Maxton Hall became challenging as fans rushed to the set. Before season two has even dropped, there is a buzz about a third outing, which seems likely but is not yet confirmed.

Amazon is enjoying huge success in the YA space with two non-English-language projects achieving global success. As well as Maxton Hall out of Germany, the Culpables movies – Culpa Mía (My Fault) and recent launch Culpa Tuya (Your Fault) – are doing the numbers for the streamer.

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