Damian Hardung and Harriet Herbig-Matten became close friends while playing love interests — James and Ruby — on Maxton Hall.
The Prime Video series, which debuted in May 2024, is based on Mona Kasten‘s Save You book series. The six-part German-language TV drama introduced viewers to an unlikely enemies to lovers romance between private school classmates Ruby (Herbig-Matten) and James (Hardung).
Maxton Hall quickly found record-breaking success by being the most-watched non-U.S. title during its first week on Prime Video. It was renewed for a second season one week after its debut.
After filming the series in 2022, Hardung and Herbig-Matten formed a bond as they waited for fans to finally see their hard work come to life two years later. The pair later revealed that their first interaction didn’t immediately result in a friendship.
“I think in our first audition, he had come into the room and he had this suit on and I was like, ‘Who’s this arrogant boy there?’ But in our second and last audition, it just clicked and we had tension,” Herbig-Matten exclusively told Us Weekly in June 2024. “So we had chemistry, we just didn’t see that.”
Hardung also recalled building trust with Herbig-Matten as they worked on the show together, adding, “We had a very interesting dynamic while shooting. Because we were literally just going through everything that the characters were going through.”
He continued: “Whenever we knew the next day we’re gonna have a shoot where we hate each other, we literally didn’t talk the night before. If we knew the next day we’re gonna be best friends then we went out for dinner together.”
Keep scrolling to see the sweetest moments from Hardung and Herbig-Matten’s friendship as they continue to film season 2 of Maxton Hall:
