Facts: “Young royals”
About Prince Wilhelm (Edvin Ryding), who after a scandal is forced to enroll at the fictional boarding school Hillerska. There he meets his classmate Simon (Omar Rudberg), who comes from much simpler circumstances and who fights against prejudice and class hierarchies, and the two fall in love.
Other roles include Malte Gårdinger, Frida Argento, Nikita Uggla and Pernilla August.
The second season premieres November 1 on Netflix.
The Christmas holidays are over and Prince Wilhelm returns to the Hillerska boarding school with the aim of both getting revenge on his ransomed cousin August and winning Simon back. But Simon has begun to look elsewhere for love and Wilhelm’s plans threaten to shake the entire succession to the throne.
Edvin Ryding, who plays Wilhelm in the series, calls it a joy to portray a darker prince in the new episodes.
— It’s like his emotional spectrum moves between two extremes. It is the passionate love and desperation for Simon, but also the anger and the feeling that he is betrayed by both his mother and his sibling, he says.
Helped to get out
Now he is excited to see how the new direction is received by viewers. Since the drama premiered last summer, “Young royals” has been a huge hit, with young viewers all over the world living out their love for the series on social media and discussion forums. Many also contact the actors directly.
— Some come forward and say that the series has helped them get out. Some say they have made friends for life in others who also enjoy it, says Edvin Ryding.
For Omar Rudberg, the series has had enormous significance. Partly because the role meant his breakthrough as an actor, partly because he feels its great importance to viewers, he explains.
— I somehow wish that I hadn’t been in the series and that instead I had been able to see it when I was 13 years old and experience what many people experience today. It just feels so sick to be in it instead of being the guy who sits at home and watches. To somehow get the chance to be a part of this is absolutely fantastic, he says.
Crazy expectations
The series’ main writer Lisa Ambjörn is also keen to see how the sequel is received, but she says at the same time that she does not let expectations affect the story.
— So the expectations are crazy. We didn’t have that in the first season, but now we have a huge fanbase that has very strong opinions about every single scene. It is clear that there will be an inner critic in one who wants to live up to this while being loyal to the story.
Rojda Sekersöz, who returns as conceptual director, has mixed feelings about the resurrection.
— This is the first and perhaps only time in my career that I actually get such clear evidence that we have reached and influenced people. But personally, I think it’s also quite difficult, that you sort of become a recipient of everything. It’s very nice that they want to share, but it’s also quite hard to accept, she says.
“Why reinvent the wheel?”
So what is it that so many have taken the “Young royals” to their young hearts? If Rojda Sekersöz is to be believed, it is the combination of a timeless love story at the core and that at the same time they take turns in other ways.
— Why try to reinvent the wheel? We have been telling stories the same way for tens of thousands of generations. But what happens if there are two boys instead of a girl and boy or what happens if they are young instead of adults, she says.
If there will be any further continuation, they cannot yet answer.
— We know what the ending is, but I can’t say if it will come in season two or in a next one. But there has always been an idea of what it is we should tell, says Lisa Ambjörn.
Source: Then24
