Exclusive Interview

‘Maxton Hall’ Season 2: Harriet Herbig-Matten on Ruby’s ‘Breaking Point’ With James

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers from Maxton Hall — The World Between Us Season 2, Episodes 1-3.]

Maxton Hall is off to an angsty start in Season 2. After a grieving, drunken James (Damian Hardung) cheated on Ruby in Episode 1, she (Harriet Herbig-Matten) put an end to their burgeoning relationship. Over the span of the next two episodes, James tries to win Ruby back. Ruby determinedly keeps her walls up — until the end of Episode 3.

When their charity gala speaker drops out, James makes a heartfelt speech in his place. Not only does he save face with Ruby’s idol — Alice Campbell, whose foundation helps struggling individuals who can’t afford to help themselves — but he also opens up about his own turmoil in the wake of his mom’s death. Afterward, James is pulled away from Ruby by his angry father before they can really talk about it, though James’ words have a profound impact on her.

Herbig-Matten opened up to Swooon about those pivotal final moments in Episode 3, during which James openly declares that he regrets hurting the woman he loves and that he’s taking steps to work on himself. Does Ruby believe it? Is she finally ready to let James back in? The actress explained why James’ actions, combined with his speech, got through to her character.

“[The speech] means that he’s might lose everything and that he might get into a fight with his dad,” she said, also bringing up James’ choices to help raise money for the gala and fix up the ballroom, which was destroyed by a fire. “She knows how much he risked for that. And I think that’s what’s the breaking point is, that she sees him changing a bit and that he wants to change.”

Herbig-Matten, who said she herself struggled a bit to understand Ruby’s change of heart, noted that she appreciated her character’s mindset at the beginning of the season. When James barges in on Ruby’s Oxford acceptance celebration in Episode 2, she outright rejects him. “I think that is a really strong move that she’s saying, ‘You have to fix yourself, and you have to to heal yourself and to get help, but I don’t want to have to do anything with it, and I’m not responsible for that,'” she said.

In another interview for TV Insider’s Fall TV preview, the actress mentioned that it was important to her that Ruby maintain her strong sense of self in Season 2. “James feels the pain of grief,” she said. “He is losing himself, he’s returning to the old James’ behavior. Ruby is constantly in conflict with herself between loving him and wanting to support him, but also knowing he has to and can only help himself. So she has to let him go. She starts setting boundaries. I think that’s an important message, especially for all the young women out there.”

Still, she acknowledged that “sometimes, you have a special connection with someone you can’t explain,” which is the case with Ruby and James. When we asked what draws Ruby to James, Herbig-Matten said, “She sees that he is lost and in pain because of his dad. At the same time, he is showing her the beauty of life. He encourages her to live life more freely; he is helping her get out of her head.”

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'Maxton Hall' Writer Teases James & Ruby Romance 'Sabotage' in Season 2

All of that being said, though Ruby and James make tremendous progress in Episode 3, it still doesn’t mean Ruby will immediately jump back into a relationship with James. Maxton Hall fans will have to wait and see if their love prevails over the next several weeks. Let us know your predictions — and what you thought of the first three episodes — in the comments below!

Maxton Hall – The World Between Us, Season 2, Episodes 1-3, Streaming Now, Prime Video

Maxton Hall – The World Between Us, Season 2, Episode 4, November 14, Prime Video

Maxton Hall – The World Between Us, Season 2, Episode 5, November 21, Prime Video

Maxton Hall – The World Between Us, Season 2, Episode 6, November 28, Prime Video