Damian Hardung was born on 7th of September, 1998. After having appeared in a number of short films, he made his debut on the big screen in a supporting role in the coming-of-age film "Transpapa" (2012). He then appeared in supporting roles in the romantic comedy "Unter Frauen" (2012) and the TV thriller "Online - Meine Tochter in Gefahr" (2012), before he played a more prominent role as an adventurous orphan in the award-winning youth film "Clara und das Geheimnis der Bären" ("Clara and the Secret of the Bears", CH/DE 2012).

A year later, at the age of fourteen, Hartung moved to New York City after having received a scholarship for intellectually gifted kids. There he attended the renowned Directors Lab at the Lincoln Center. After his return to Germany, he starred in a central role as the son of the main character (played by Nicolette Krebitz) in the TV film "Freundinnen - Alle für eine" (2015). He had his breakthrough shortly after, when he played a young cancer patient in "Club der roten Bänder" ("The Red Band Society", 2015-2017), a TV series about the daily life of a number of teenagers in a hospital. His performance won him and the rest of the ensemble the Deutscher Schauspielerpreis as well as the New Faces Award in 2016.

Hardung appeared in a lead role in the comedy film "Der Hodscha und die Piepenkötter" (2016, TV) as well as two years later in the feature film "Das schönste Mädchen der Welt", a loose, modern adaptation of "Cyrano de Bergerac". In 2018, he also starred in the Italian TV series "The Name of the Rose" playing the young Benedictine monk Adson von Melk.