Maria dragus was born in Dresden, germany in 1994. As the daughter of a romanian cellist and a german dancer.

While still studying dance at the Palucca University of Dance in Dresden, she was cast at age 14 in Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or-winning film The White Ribbon (2009), where she played Klara, the preacher's daughter. Her debut performance earned her the German Film Award (Lola) for Best Supporting Actress in 2010 at age 15.

Her early roles include If Not Us, Who? (2011) by Andres Veiel, Kill Me (2012) by Emily Atef, and Summer Outside (2012) by Friederike Jehn. She won the Best Actress Award at the Cinerama BC Film Festival in Brazil in 2013 for her role in Wanda.

A significant chapter unfolded through her collaborations with acclaimed Romanian director Cristian Mungiu. In Graduation (2016), which premiered in Competition at Cannes and won Best Director there. She reunited with him in R.M.N. (2022), further cementing her presence in socially incisive European arthouse cinema.

Her profile expanded internationally with a role as Mary Fleming in Josie Rourke's Mary Queen of Scots (2018), starring alongside Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie. In 2014, she was honored as one of the ten European Shooting Stars by European Film Promotion at the Berlin International Film Festival.

She delivered a lead performance as the blind pianist Maria Theresia Paradis in Barbara Albert's Mademoiselle Paradis(2017), earning her Best Interpretation in a Female Lead at the Festival de Cinema de Les Arcs.

Her work has spanned borders: in France, she starred in Lucie Prost's Fario( 2024); in Greece, she took the lead in Stefanos Tsivopoulos's Elena's Shift (2025), portraying Elena, a Romanian single mother in crisis-era Athens pursuing naturalization and a sense of belonging, a role that showcased her immersive preparation, including months of studying Greek for authenticity.

Other highlights include Andy Goddard's Six Minutes to Midnight (2020) with Judi Dench and Eddie Izzard, Ruth Mader's Serviam: I Will Serve (2021), and Markus Schleinzer's period drama Rose (2026), where she plays opposite Sandra Hüller in a film that premiered in Competition at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival.

as of 2026 maria is preparing to direct her first feature film as a director.