Gustav Schmidt was born in Magdeburg on April 4, 1996. From 2014 to 2018, he trained as an actor at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst 'Ernst Busch' in Berlin. During this time, he appeared as Lacroix in a university production of "Dantons Tod" (2016/17) at the Berlin Schaubühne.   

He also made his film debut in 2016 while still a student, in a leading role in the short film "Der Junge der die Liebe suchte" (directed by Adrian von der Borch), a production of the HFF Munich. Schmidt played his first lead role on TV role as a kind-hearted prince in "Das Wasser des Lebens" (2017). He had another leading role in Sherry Hormann's TV tragicomedy "Wir lieben das Leben" (2018), about a group of rebellious middle school students who, under the guidance of a dedicated teacher, rehearse a song by Vicky Leandros for a school play. Schmidt has played supporting roles in the dramedy series "Milk & Honey" (2018) and an episode of "Der Kroatien-Krimi" (2019), among others.   

Schmidt became an ensemble member at Theater Bonn for the 2018/19 season. From 2019 to 2021, he had a leading role in the award-winning youth series "Wir sind jetzt," about a carefree clique whose wild party life is thrown off track after the death of a friend.  

Schmidt played his first supporting role in a feature film in the youth drama "Albträumer" ("Darkdreamers", 2020), followed by a leading role as a murder suspect in the crime thriller "Neugeboren" (2021) from the "Tatort" series. Directed by Jan Georg Schütte, he had a lead role in an episode of the comedy series "Kranitz - Bei Trennung Geld zurück" and a supporting role in the improvised miniseries "Das Begräbnis" (2022). Also in 2022, Schmidt appeared in the youth film "Alle für Ella" ("Featuring Ella") as a rapper who develops a special relationship with an aspiring musician and singer who is actually his biggest rival in a song contest.