When we sat down with Damian Hardung, news had just broken that the series that catapulted the German actor to fame, Maxton Hall, has been renewed for a third season – well ahead of the sophomore season even landing on screens.
Even as part of an adapted book series, this kind of momentum behind a TV show proves rare. Its debut season topped the Prime Video charts in over 120 countries and territories including the US and UK, despite originally being filmed in German.
Despite the overwhelming success, Damian, who plays James Beaufort, remains grounded.
“Who would’ve thought that I could still go to school at 26? I could play a teacher, I guess,” he jokes to marie claire Australia.
“Honestly, teenage years are pretty cool. So, I feel like it’s kind of just a gift to be able to go back and re-experience those years where emotions feel raw in a sense … especially like first love just, you know, hits differently.”
There’s no denying that the virality of season one was in some part driven or at least spurred on by a now-iconic dance scene. Damian’s moves as he danced with co-star Harriet Herbig-Matten to The Weeknd’s ‘Moth To A Flame’ swiftly flooded TikTok and soundtracked playlists and fan edits alike.
“That was spontaneous. It was a lot of fun… We just listened to Rihanna, I think most of the night. And then later they put ‘Moth to a Flame’ on it and that really fit perfectly,” he says.
He laughs, recalling that his friends never would’ve predicted his dancing would go viral, in fact says they “usually just laugh at my dancing attempts”. Instead, he attributes the moment to chemistry and cinematography, two of the show’s strongest signatures.
And yes — fans should brace themselves. There is another moment this season that he knows will set timelines on fire.
“For sure,” he teases, “But I won’t call which one… there are a couple of ones in my mind that I can’t spoil.”
It’s not all dance scenes and simmering tension, following the devastating season one finale reveal that James’ mother had died of a stroke, there are moments of crushing heartbreak ahead.
Damian recalls reading the script for the first time and immediately thinking: “This is gonna be exhausting.”
Describing filming as a “tough summer”, the actor says he left nothing on the table when it came to portraying grief.
“We really brought it to the screen and I feel like we didn’t hold back… what it means to lose a parent in a way, and to lose your love and to fight for that love that you think you lost. It’s just something that’s very, very close to my heart and that I wanted to contribute to and I wanted to do justice.”
Maxton Hall season two premieres on Prime Video from November 7th.
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