Sunny Leone

Pornstar Profile

Sunny Leone is a Canadian pornstar, entrepreneur and part-time mainstream model. Sunny’s unique look and soft-spoken demeanor is adored by fans all around the globe, including many of Bollywood’s biggest producers.

Sunny was born in the summer of 1981 in the Toronto suburb of Sarnia. Her parents are Sikhs from India. Sunny’s father was raised in Delhi and her mother hails from a small town in the Northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Sunny’s parents enrolled her in a small private Catholic school even though she was raised as a Sikh. The town was predominantly white and her father felt it would be safer to attend a private school. At the age of 13 Sunny’s family moved to the United States, first living outside of Detroit, then moving to California a year later. She eventually became a US citizen in 2006.

Sunny was a tomboy for most of her teen years. She was very active in sports and even played street hockey with her guy friends. Sunny allegedly lost her virginity to a basketball player and started to explore her bisexual urges at 18. After school Sunny had a job at the local automobile oil shop and also worked part-time at a German bakery.

While Sunny was studying to be a pediatric nurse in Southern California, a friend introduced her to John Stevens, an agent in the adult industry. He arranged for a meeting between Sunny and Jay Allen, who was a photographer for Penthouse. At the age of 21 Sunny posed for Penthouse and was made a Penthouse Pet in the March 2001 issue. Hustler made her a Hustler Honey 8 months later for their 2001 Holiday edition. No one in the adult circuit shared Sunny’s sultry, exotic features and the demand for her went through the roof. At this point Sunny was primarily involved in softcore films and print magazines, including High Society, Swank, AVN Online, Lowride and Club International. In 2003 Sunny was made Penthouse Pet of the Year.

Toward the end of 2003 Sunny signed a three year contract with porn powerhouse Vivid Entertainment, the company that distributed Pam & Tommy Lee Hardcore & Uncensored. This was Sunny’s big entrance into hardcore film. During her contract Sunny only shot lesbian scenes. In 2005 Vivid released her first movie, simply called Sunny. The next movie was a virtual film, something Vivid had never attempted before. It took 4 days to shoot and Virtual Vivid Girl Sunny Leone went on to earn Sunny an AVN Award for Best Interactive DVD. Her first squirting movie was called Sunny Loves Cher and she also traveled internationally with Vivid, filming a feature DVD in Brazil titled It’s Sunny in Brazil.

By 2007 most porn fans had heard of Sunny Leone. She was in high demand at the fan-based adult conventions and was often recognized during her day-to-day off camera life. In May she re-signed with Vivid, but took her career to a new level. Sunny decided to perform for the first time with men. Her rules were strict initially, as she would only shoot with her fiancé, Matt Erikson. Erikson was a veteran of the adult industry but at that time had solely been involved in the business backend, rather than in front of the camera. Shortly after she re-signed Sunny had her breasts augmented. A new Sunny was unleashed and Sunny Loves Matt earned her 3 AVN nominations in 2009.

Sunny announced in 2008 she would start shooting with other male performers. Tommy Gunn, James Deen, Voodoo and Charles Dera were among the new partners she worked with shortly after her announcement. Sunny won Web Babe of the Year at the 2008 XBiz Awards. In the summer she launched her own studio with Daniel Weber called Sunlust Pictures, where Sunny produces and directs her own films. The Dark Side of the Sun was released in the spring of 2009 at the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas.

At the end of 2009 Sunny’s contract with Vivid was over and she began working with several additional studios. Sunny signed deals with Imlive, Flirt4Free, Brickhouse and PPPcard among others. Sunny’s career was at an all-time high. She traveled around the country as part of the Vivid Comedy Tour, participated in the Club Jenna Lingerie Bowl and even had a Doc Johnson pocket pal molded after her vagina. Apple approved an iPhone application starring some of Sunny’s non-nude photos, which became the first approved application featuring a porn star. Several months later Apple removed the app from their store. Maxim named Sunny one of the “Top 12 Female Stars in Porn” alongside Bree Olson and Eva Angelina.

Sunny’s career doesn’t stop with adult. She has appeared in several mainstream projects. Skateboard company MFG uses Sunny’s image to market their product line. Sunny was a red carpet reporter for the MTV Awards on MTV India in 2005. She appears in Ja Rule’s video “Livin It Up” and had a cameo in the film The Girl Next Door. Sunny’s also appeared on Fox’s My Bare Lady 2, a Sundance Film Festival presentation called After Dark and a Showtime documentary about Debbie Does Dallas in 2007. Several publications have featured Sunny including Front, FHM and Jane. Sunny is one of the Penthouse Pets in the PlayStation game Pocket Pool. In 2011 Sunny appeared on Loveline hosted by Dr. Drew of VH1’s Celebrity Rehab fame.

There’s been a long-time interest for Sunny to make an entrance in Bollywood. While she hasn’t signed a contract for any Bollywood projects she has allegedly been courted several times by various Hindi directors.

Sunny released a public service announcement in 2008 on behalf of the ASACP. It encouraged adult webmasters to protect minors from their content by using RTA labels on their sites. In September 2011 Sunny announced a partnership between Sunlust Pictures and Blueshoon Inc. The project allows Sunny to have hands-on control of an adult website under an affiliate program that houses other stars like Sasha Grey, Nikki Benz, Tori Black. Another starlet under the Blueshoon umbrella is Bree Olson, who will be co-hosting the 2012 AVN Awards with Sunny at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. Sunny shoots her own content and proclaims the site is loaded with hardcore videos. On top of her film work Sunny continues to feature dance all over the United States.