Chardynin was born Pyotr Ivanovich Krasavtsev on 10 February 1873 in Simbirsk, Russian Empire (now Ulyanovsk, Russia).

After graduating, he adopted stage name of Chardynin and started both acting and directing career in provincial Russian theatres in Belgorod, Orekhovo-Zuevo, Uralsk and Vologda.

In 1908, Chardynin joined the troupe at Vvedensky Narodny Dom in Moscow and, as a part of it, started his film acting career in A 16th Century Russian Wedding and Song About the Merchant Kalashnikov.

In 1916, however, facing the serious competition from Yevgeni Bauer, he left the Khanzhonkov and, together with Vera Kholodnaya and several other leading actors, joined Dmitriy Kharitonov's studio in Odesa.

In 1923, he returned to the USSR to work at Odesa Film Studio, where he directed several costume dramas and epics about the history of Ukraine.