Taylor Swift‘s music has been the national anthem for fictional TV couples — but which song does Damian Hardung want to see used for James and Ruby in season 3 of Maxton Hall?
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly at Amazon Studios, Hardung, 27, suggested that “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” for the show. When Us pointed out that the hit track from Swift’s album “Red” was a better fit for James and Ruby’s season 2 arc, Hardung said he was looking ahead.
“For season 3 … I love ‘Exile’ with Bon Iver,” Hardung noted. “I love that. It’s just such a beautiful song.”
Hardung couldn’t give too much away about season 3 but he did share some of his hopes for the next installment. (The second season showed James and Ruby back together but struggling to face every obstacle his father was throwing at them.)
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“[James and Ruby going into season 3 in a better place as a couple] would be my hope for them. They’ve been through so much. After all this, what else can there be that?” he shared. “That’s why the third book [which inspires season 3] is called Save Us. Because it’s about the two of them actually being together and fighting against the outer world.”
Based on Mona Kasten’s book series, the German-language TV drama introduced viewers to an unlikely enemies-to-lovers romance between private school classmates Ruby Bell and James Beaufort. Maxton Hall, which premiered in May 2024, quickly found record-breaking success, becoming the most-watched non-U.S. title during its first week on Prime Video. It was later renewed for a second — and third — season.
“[Filming season 2] was naturally different. If you’re on set and you look to the right — because you’re shooting on location somewhere outside — suddenly there are like 100 phones directed at you and you suddenly realize, ‘Oh, people are paying attention to this,’” Hardung said about the difference between seasons. “But as challenging as that is in that moment, I think the upside is that it’s just truly wonderful experience to have people actually care about and to be deeply invested in those characters.”
Hardung gushed over the show’s fanbase, telling Us “they embark on that journey together with you and it’s just such a unifying experience. “I’m really grateful to receive all that love. It’s such an honor.”
Amid the overwhelming outpouring of support, Hardung has loved getting to see reactions to episodes come in love.
“It is so fun to tease people, to play along and to lead some false premises — Or listen to some fan theories. There are great fan theories out there [like the one about] Percy definitely being James’ dad is one of them,” he recalled. “There was one where the fans were like, ‘Well, the car crash has to have some consequence straight away because it was an added element. It’s not in the original books so it’s probably in there because they’re going to have a blood sample from him — and then discover that he’s Percy’s son.’ I was like, ‘That’s so smart.’”
While Maxton Hall‘s fans are the fun part of Hardung’s skyrocket to fame, there are certain aspects he is still adjusting to.
“On the one side, it is crazy to have to do something and then see people respond to it. Because in the end, that’s what we do art for, right? We give people a different perspective and maybe have them just experience a different reality for a few hours,” he explained. “To be able to actually do that with this audience, it’s crazy. I would have never thought that when I was 11 years old, doing student films — which five people in the audience probably saw and four were the parents.”
Hardung continued: “You don’t think you’re going to end up in New York promoting a show that has such worldwide success. So that is out of this world and then the other side is that privately you stay the same person. When the light is out, you have the same family and I still go to the same university. These are the things that don’t change and luckily I don’t change because there’s some form of constant in your life that I’m truly grateful for.”
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Hardung’s performance as James has been praised by fans and critics alike — but not everyone knows that he is remaining booked and busy by juggling medical school at the same time as the show.
“I’ve done my second state exam this spring so I’ve done the university part. Now I only need to do the rotations in the hospital. I’ll do that next year but it’s four-month blocks that you’re doing them. So it’s a lot of scheduling stuff but I think taking some time off from acting — like if you do two movies a year and then maybe be gone for 10 months — could just be really helpful for yourself,” he noted. “You can develop new aspects of life. How am I going to portray new characters if all I see is like a redundancy of myself? You have to get out there to just watch people in normal life, to reflect upon that and use that as fuel for your next roles.”
Speaking of redundancy, while Hardung will have firsthand experience as a doctor he isn’t sure real life will inspire his art in that way — yet.
“I feel like the pressure [to play a doctor on screen accurately] would be really high,” he quipped to Us. “If I make one mistake playing a doctor, you’re like, ‘Wow, that’s all bull***. You didn’t even study right?’ I would say I am a bit scared of that. I feel like having a few years of clinical experience would help just so there’s familiarity with a lot of it.”
Maxton Hall is currently streaming on Prime Video.
