Sunny Leone, the former adult film star turned Bollywood actress, who wears many hats – supporting Peta and honoured in the BBC’s 100 Women series

Nov 3 , 2020

Bollywood actress and former adult entertainment star Sunny Leone at the unveiling of her wax likeness at the Madame Tussauds museum in New Delhi, India in 2018. Photo: AP

Before she appeared in the Will Ferrell co-produced Hollywood film The Virginity Hit and launched her own cosmetics line Starstruck by Sunny Leone, she was winning AVN and Penthouse awards

Boasting over 40 million followers on Instagram, the striking actress and model Karenjit Kaur Vohra – better known by her stage name Sunny Leone – is clearly a major star with mass appeal. Although she might have kicked off her career as an adult entertainer, her appearances in a variety of television series, feature-length films and music videos have since cemented her fame as an in-demand Bollywood actress.

But although she might be best known for her transition from the adult entertainment industry to mainstream celebrity, there’s much more to her career than that.

Before she became “Sunny” …

Leone was born in Canada in 1981 to Punjabi Sikh parents. As the family later moved to the United States when Leone was in her teens, the actress holds dual Canadian and American citizenship. Before her entertainment career, she was studying to become a nurse.

She’s an activist

In addition to posing for animal rights organisation Peta, Leone has also been an active voice behind other meaningful causes. Another campaign she publicly promoted was the 2008 American youth voter registration initiative called Declare Yourself.

She has a loving family life

In husband Daniel Weber – who also worked as an actor in the adult entertainment industry – Leone has a supportive and devoted life partner. Today the couple have three kids: Nisha, the eldest daughter who they adopted from India, as well as twin boys Asher and Noah.