Sunny Leone (born Karenjit Kaur Vohra; May 13, 1981) is a Canadian actress, businesswoman, model and former hot actress. She was named Penthouse Pet of the Year in 2003 and was a contract star for a company. Named by a magazine as one of the 12 top hot stars in 2010, she has also played roles in independent mainstream films and television shows.
Leone was born in Sarnia, Ontario to Sikh Punjabi parents. Her father was born in Tibet and raised in Delhi, while her mother (who died in 2008) was from Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh. As a young girl, she was very athletic and played street hockey with the boys, and ice skating on a nearby frozen lake.
Although the family was Sikh, her parents enrolled her in Catholic school as it was felt to be unsafe for her to go to public school. There she had her first mistake at 11, lost her maidenhood to a basketball player at another school at 16, and discovered her romantic attraction at age 18. When she was 13, her family moved to Fort Gratiot, Michigan, then to Lake Forest, California a year later, fulfilling her grandparents' dream that the family be together in one place. She graduated from high school in 1999 and enrolled in college.
During her stay in the Bigg Boss house, Sunny was approached by a Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt who entered the house briefly to offer her the lead role in Jism 2 (the sequel to the 2003 film Jism starring Bipasha Basu). She accepted it, which resulted in Pooja Bhatt's production house, Fish Eye Network and Leone's agent discussing the movie further. The first look of the film Jism 2 poster was released anticipating the actress entry in Bollywood. Jism 2 was released on August 3, 2012, to poor critical and audience reception.
Sunny Leone signed her second Bollywood film which is Ekta Kapoor's Ragini MMS sequel. Ragini MMS, a crossover horror movie was one of the most talked about sleeper hits of 2011. Sunny Leone featured in an item number in the Sanjay Gupta and Ekta Kapoor's 2013 film Shootout at Wadala.
In June 2006, Leone became an American citizen, but plans to remain a dual citizen of Canada. On 14 April 2012, Leone announced that she was now a resident of India, explaining in an interview to The New Indian Express that she was an Overseas Citizen of India and that she was eligible for overseas citizenship because her parents lived in India. She applied for it prior to filming Jism 2.
Although romantic attraction, she has stated that she prefers men. Leone was engaged to Matt Erikson, a vice-president of marketing at an Enterprises. She currently resides in Hollywood, California with her cat and drives an Audi A5. She mentioned in an interview at the start of 2011 that she was married to Daniel Weber. During her stay in the Bigg Boss house later that same year, Leone indicated that the relationship had by revealing that she had been previously married; she had 'purposely arrived late' to their first date as she was not impressed with him, but he changed her mind by sending 24 roses to her hotel room.
In 2010, Leone's father died of cancer, which he had been first diagnosed with in 1999. In 2011, Leone along with Monique Alexander and Keni Styles ran in the Rock 'n' Roll Los Angeles Half-Marathon to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
A 2008 Eye Weekly article reported that "Leone does her best to maintain a link to Sikh traditions, even if more in theory than in practice. But she's unlikely to disavow her career path due to religion" and that Leone said "Girls will leave the industry claiming that they found God. Well, the fact is, God has always been with them the entire time." In a 2010 interview, she said "It's a community-based religion. You walk into a temple and you're greeted with the utmost respect... But, just like any religion it doesn't want you to shoot hot material. I mean, I grew up going to temple every Sunday. When my parents found out they knew my personality which was very independent. Even if they tried to stop me or tried to steer me the right way they would have lost their daughter. I'm too headstrong. And it wasn't a plan. It just happened and my career and everything just kept getting bigger and bigger."
In her spare time she enjoys abstract paintings, horse riding, reading, playing World of Warcraft, watching The Simpsons and the Discovery Channel. She used to play on a women's soccer league team in California. Her favourite holiday destination is Hawaii, and her favourite cuisine is Italian.
