Sunny Leone

Sunny Leone, born Karenjit "Karen" Kaur Vohra on May 13, 1981, is a Canadian-American actress, model, and television personality who now works primarily in Hindi films. She began her career in adult entertainment, where she was named Penthouse Pet of the Year in 2003 and later inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2018. Since entering Bollywood in the 2010s, she has become known for leading roles in erotic thrillers and popular item numbers, often described by media as a sex symbol. On Indian television, she co-hosts the reality show *MTV Splitsvilla*.

Leone’s first mainstream appearance came in 2005, when she worked as a red carpet reporter for the MTV Video Music Awards on MTV India. In 2011, she appeared as a contestant on the reality series *Bigg Boss*. Her Bollywood debut arrived in 2012 with Pooja Bhatt’s erotic thriller *Jism 2*, after which she focused on mainstream acting. Subsequent films include *Jackpot* (2013), *Ragini MMS 2* (2014), *Ek Paheli Leela* (2015), *Tera Intezaar* (2017), and the Malayalam film *Madhura Raja* (2019).

Beyond acting, Leone has taken part in activism campaigns. She ran in the Rock 'n' Roll Los Angeles Half-Marathon to raise money for the American Cancer Society and posed for a PETA ad campaign with a rescued dog, encouraging pet owners to spay and neuter their cats and dogs.

Leone was born in Sarnia, Ontario, to Sikh Indian Punjabi parents. As a child, she was a tomboy who played street hockey with boys. Her parents enrolled her in Catholic school, believing public school was unsafe. At 13, her family moved to Fort Gratiot, Michigan, and then to Lake Forest, California a year later, fulfilling her grandparents’ wish for the family to live together. She had her first kiss at 11, lost her virginity at 16 with a basketball player, and discovered her bisexuality at 18.

Before entering adult film, Leone worked at a German bakery, a Jiffy Lube store, and a tax and retirement firm, while also studying to become a nurse. She chose the stage name “Sunny” as her real name and “Leone” from Bob Guccione, former owner of *Penthouse*. After posing for that magazine, she was named Penthouse Pet of the Month for March 2001 and later appeared as a Hustler Honey in the Holiday 2001 edition of *Hustler*. She also appeared in magazines such as *Cheri*, *Mystique Magazine*, *High Society*, *Swank*, *AVN Online*, *Leg World*, *Club International*, and *Lowrider*, with online credits including ModFX Models, Suze Randall, Ken Marcus, and Mac & Bumble.

In 2003, she was named Penthouse Pet of the Year and starred in the video *Penthouse Pets in Paradise* with Tera Patrick and Kyla Cole. In 2005, Adam & Eve hired her as their West Coast Internet Sales Representative. That same year, she signed a three-year contract with Vivid Entertainment, transitioning into hardcore pornography but initially agreeing to do only lesbian scenes. Her first Vivid movie, *Sunny*, was released in December 2005. Her next, *Virtual Vivid Girl Sunny Leone*, was the first interactive title for a Vivid Girl and won her first AVN Award for Best Interactive DVD. She followed with *Sunny Loves Cher*, featuring her first on-screen squirting, and *The Female Gardner* with Mikayla Mendez and Daisy Marie.

Her last two Vivid contract films were *It's Sunny in Brazil* (filmed in Brazil) and *The Sunny Experiment*, released in October and December 2007 respectively. In May 2007, she re-signed with Vivid for six more films, agreeing to do her first boy/girl scenes—only with her then-fiancé, Matt Erikson. That year she underwent breast augmentation and shot *Sunny Loves Matt*, which earned three AVN award nominations in 2009, as well as a nomination for Female Performer of the Year. She followed with *The Other Side of Sunny* in October 2008, her last film with Erikson. In January 2008, she stated she was no longer exclusive to Erikson and had performed with other male actors, including Tommy Gunn, Charles Dera, James Deen, and Voodoo.

In 2009, Vivid released *Sunny B/G Adventure*, her only adult movie with multiple male partners. Her final Vivid release, *Undress Me*, again featured only one male performer, Daniel Weber (stage name Ariel King), who later became her husband. In August 2009, Leone launched her own studio, Sunlust Pictures, with Weber as her partner, planning to write, direct, and produce her own adult films with Vivid as distributor. Her first independent production, *The Dark Side of the Sun*, debuted in March 2009 at the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas. In June 2009, she held a casting call in Las Vegas for her second independent film, *Sunny Slumber Party*.