Leone's father was born in Tibet and raised in New Delhi, while her mother is from a small town in the mountains called Nahan. Her family moved to California in 1996. After graduating high school in 1999, she began modeling and eventually transitioned into nude modeling. Leone began appearing in many magazines and websites in the nude, and eventually posed in a layout for Penthouse magazine in 2001 (Pet of the Month March), as well as being featured in the Holiday 2001 edition of Hustler magazine as a Hustler Honey. Her popularity and beauty allowed her to win the 2003 Penthouse Pet of the Year award. She mostly does softcore modeling and videos,
She has signed an exclusive contract with Vivid Entertainment, where she has now moved into hardcore videos, though only lesbian. In 2004, she was part of "No more Bush Girls", where along with several other popular adult actresses, they shaved off their pubic hair in protest of the Bush presidency. Her first release under vivid was titled Sunny, and was followed by her 2006 release, Virtual Vivid Girl Sunny Leone (which took four days to film). She was the first Vivid star to have such an interactive feature ever.
Her follow up movie "Sunny and Cher" was released in October 2006, and her most recent release was "The Female Gardener" which was released in January 2007. She stars in the remake of "Debbie does Dallas...Again", the first Vivid movie to be released on Blu-Ray Disc and HD DVD, starring as Christie, released in April 2007. Her follow up movie is titled "Its Sunny in Brazil",set for release in September 2007.
On May 9, 2007, Sunny Leone announced that she has signed a deal to appear in up to six more movies for Vivid Entertainment. As part of the contract, she will be performing with men for the first time in her adult career. Her first movie under the new contract will be titled "Sunny Loves Matt", and will co-star Matt Erickson, who is her fiancé..The Movie is set for release March 2008
In an interview for pmpnetwork.com she has admitted that had she never left Canada, she would have been a different person and not gone into the adult industry. Her parents (who are both of Indian descent) are aware of her career and support her, although they want her to discontinue it. She has one brother. She is finishing college and intends to become a pediatric nurse. She currently lives with her boyfriend in Sacramento, California. She writes about her life on her official blog.
