Damian Hardung Weighs In On That James & Percy Maxton Hall Theory

Yes, Damian Hardung and Harriet Herbig-Matten know that the detail-oriented fans of Maxton Hall are theorizing about the show. The stars of the Prime Video series, based on the books by Mona Kasten, tell Elite Daily some of their favorite reactions to the newly released second season, including the fan theory they think could be true.

“I love that they are complaining about the timeline and they're confused about it,” says Herbig-Matten, who plays Ruby Bell. Some of those discrepancies have fueled a lot of speculation among the fandom, giving birth to what Hardung calls his “favorite fan theory” of all.

“The one with Percy and the car crash,” Hardung says, singling out the unconfirmed guesses about his character James Beaufort’s real father.

For anyone who isn’t caught up on Maxton Hall, a lot of the drama from the series surrounds James and his rocky relationship with his father, Mortimer. Percy is the Beaufort family’s chauffeur and longtime friend of James’ mother, Cordelia, who died at the end of Season 1. Some fans believe that it’s possible Cordelia and Percy had an affair back when James and his twin sister, Lydia, were born — making him their biological father.

Even though it’s not in the books that Percy is James’ real father, Prime Video has made some significant changes from the novel to the Maxton Hall TV series. One of those changes in Season 2 is a car crash that James gets into at the beginning of Episode 1, which is never really mentioned again — not even to Ruby. While the German actor admits he didn’t see the accident coming, Herbig-Matten says the most surprising thing is that James hasn’t told her character about it.

“Ruby doesn't know that I had a car crash, because James is like, ‘Ah, it's not that important.’ I mean, you have a car crash, you keep on going,” says Hardung, but the actor thinks the collision may come back into the storyline. It’s all thanks to the Percy fan theory, which he says he can “neither confirm nor deny.”

This is going to show that Percy is the true father of James.

According to the 27-year-old’s speculation, the car crash is only necessary because it gets James into the hospital where he’s forced to do blood tests. “This is going to show that Percy is the true father of James,” he theorizes. After all, he says, “Hyun [Wanner], the actor who plays Percy, and I are basically the same person.”

Harriet & Damian’s Favorite Scenes For Fan Edits

While Hardung is focused on intricate theories, Herbig-Matten is more excited to see which romantic moments fans will cling to most this season. “The date scene in Episode 4 is good material for fan edits,” she says, “because it's such a long scene of us dancing.”

The only thing Hardung would change about that moment was the pesky waiter. “Why is he interrupting us? I'm buying the whole freaking restaurant,” he says. “Just give us some room, man.”

Those more romantic scenes between Ruby and James definitely have been prime real estate for fan edits on TikTok, but Hardung says he isn’t really thinking about all of that in the moment. “I always try to break free from the expectations, because it'll just mess with your head,” he says. “I don't even like watching playbacks on set because then suddenly you're just thinking, ‘Why do I walk so weird? What's up with my right hand right there? What are you doing?’ It gets you out of the moment.”

With over 1.9 million likes on some Ruby and James TikToks from this season, it seems Hardung’s method of staying in character is working just fine.