David Kross was born in Bargteheide near Hamburg in 1990. As a young teen, he already appeared in small screen parts and continued to play school theatre. In 2005, director Detlev Buck"s daughter Bernadette recommended him for the leading role in Buck"s "Knallhart" and Kross eventually got the part: For his performance as the 15-year old Berlin kid Michael Polischka, who has to relocate from the affluent district of Zehelndorf to the rough streets of Neukölln, Kross got rave reviews at the IFF Berlin.

Already in autumn 2006, shooting started on the fantasy film "Krabat", which director Marco Kreuzpaintner adapted from the eponymous novel by Otfried Preußler. David Kross was cast in the lead role and the film was released in late 2008 in Germany.

In February 2009, the US-German production "Der Vorleser" ("The Reader"), based on Bernhard Sinkel"s novel, opened in German cinemas. In the film, directed by Stephen Daldry, David Kross is seen alongside stars such as Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, and Bruno Ganz. Kross won several award for his role as the teenage lover of a former concentration camp guard, including the "Trophée Chopard" in Cannes as well as a nomination for the European Film Award.

In his next film, Kross again collaborated with director Detlev Buck: "Same Same But Different" is based on an autobiographic newspaper article by Benjamin Prüfer and tells the story of the love affair between a German backpacker and a young Cambodian woman who as it later turns out is HIV positive.