Meet the man bringing your book boyfriend fantasies to life: #DamianHardung. The #MaxtonHall star sat down with Cosmopolitan Philippines for one ultimate swoon session to talk about his role as James Beaufort, love, and relationships!
“Maxton Hall” Season 2 is streaming exclusively on @primevideoph!
00:00Which point in the second season? Because I feel like it shifts a lot, because that was the fun part of doing the second season, because that goes through such a change, because I feel like this concept of love in the first episode of season two is so different from the last one, from episode six, by the way.
00:16We haven't seen the whole season yet, but you're the only one who knows. So maybe by the end of season two, how do you think James views love at that moment?
00:25I love Maxton Hall from season one. I love your work and Harriet. So yeah, I have so many questions. But my first question for today is James started off as confident and untouchable and it kind of shifted because of Ruby Bell. By season two, especially after his mother's death, we see a deeper emotional shift in his attitude and his insights.
00:51How did your approach to playing him evolve between seasons one and season two?
00:57It is true that he shows up almost as a different person because he's so shattered by his mother's death.
01:05I feel like it's understandable that there are certain events in life that can have the power to change the future path that one takes.
01:12And that certainly holds true for him. So I think it was a huge challenge to kind of navigate through the season of having each moment, like where he's at and trying to pinpoint the little moments of him according,
01:27especially in accordance to where he's in that relationship with Harriet, like with Ruby and to understand how they try to get, how he tries to understand her, how he tries to win her back and how he tries to deal with his anger, with his emotions, with his sorrow,
01:44with all of the stuff that he's going through, by first acknowledging that that's a part of him that he's never learned to really address.
01:53I think to show a man in the 21st century that tries to go through that change can be hopefully an empowering message.
02:04At least that's what I try to achieve with portraying James before in the second season.
02:08In the second season, James and Ruby, Ruby's relationship gets even more intense.
02:13How did you handle the more emotionally charged scenes with Harriet?
02:18What was it like maintaining your on-screen chemistry?
02:21It was a journey. It was crazy intense.
02:26I don't think I've ever had a shooting or I've ever done a project.
02:30I was as intense as the second season of Maxon Hall.
02:34I don't know if I ever want to again, honestly, because it really brought me to a point where I almost didn't like myself anymore because it was just too much pain.
02:42I feel like at a certain point, I was like, towards the end of the shooting period, I also just talked to Morten, our director, and I was like, I can't cry one more tear.
02:51I don't think I have it in me. I feel like I've cried out all the tears that I've had for this year.
02:57And it was just a privilege to do it with Harriet because she just does it beautifully.
03:01And I think we help each other a lot to bring out the best in each other in the second season.
03:09We did it in the first season. We did it again.
03:11We challenged each other a lot.
03:13I'm just glad it turned out the way it did because otherwise I would have felt like, what a waste of energy.
03:19So it needed to be there.
03:23You did really well, Darren.
03:25It needed to hit the tone instead of it, I feel like.
03:28Maxon Hall explores topics about friendship and also love for other people and for yourself.
03:35How do you think James Beaufort views love right now after everything that's happened with Ruby, his mother, his family, with Lydia too?
03:46Which point in the second season? Because I feel like it shifts a lot.
03:49Because that was the fun part of doing the second season because that goes through such a change.
03:54Because I feel like this concept of love in the first episode of season two is so different from the last one, from episode six, by the way.
04:03Because he does work on himself and I think he understands love to be more of something that is freeing the other person.
04:09That is something that is free of owning another person, that is free of expectations towards another person.
04:17And that is more of something that I would consider to be love and less of that toxic concept of love that I think that he's been taught and that he grew up with.
04:29We haven't seen the whole season yet, but you're the only one who knows.
04:33So maybe by the end of season two, how do you think James views love at that moment?
04:39Essential. Essential to his understanding of the essence of life.
04:44Something that is the driving force of a sense, I feel like.
04:50But also something that he's willing to let go.
04:53I think that's a beautiful message that there's this aphorism that if you love someone so much, let them go.
04:59If they come back, they belong to you.
05:01I think that's something that he understood in the second season.
05:05My last question for you.
05:08What's something about James that fans might not know yet, but you think would really resonate with them on a deeper level?
05:15That's a good question. I haven't thought about that one yet.
05:18I think the length to which he's willing to go and the compromises that he's willing to do in order to give Ruby the room and the space that she needs to come back to the experience of love.
05:34I think the amount that he can give, the amount of space he can hold for someone.
05:39I think that's something that we haven't seen and something that I hope people will worship or will cherish or will just acknowledge about James.
05:49Thank you so much, Damien. This is a really great interview. I appreciate it.
05:52And I'm so excited for Maxson Hall. Thank you.
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