Sunny Leone of southern Ontario went from adult films to Bollywood, How

How Sunny Leone of southern Ontario went from adult films to Bollywood

Unlikely story of a Canadian woman who became both an adult-film performer and a Bollywood star begins in the border city of Sarnia, Ont. Because that's where Sunny Leone was born. "Both my parents were born and raised in India, in the northern part of India, and they migrated to, actually, Sarnia," she told CBC Radio'sAfternoon Drive in a recent interview. Leone spent her childhood in the southwestern Ontario city. "I was born there...raised in this town," she said. "I had so much fun growing up there." Her family moved to the U.S. when she was a teenager, which is how Leone ended up in California. Thinking back to that time, Leone said she had no specific plans to speak of, or any inkling of where her life would take her. "For me, I always knew that I was going to own a business, I just didn't know what it was going to be," she said. "I never thought that modelling, or acting or any kind of entertainment was a possibility."

Leone said a meeting with an agent led to her appearance in a video by rapper Ja Rule, as well as some other acting jobs. Opportunities in the adult film industry followed. "It just kind of progressively happened, it wasn't something that I planned out," she said. Leone has a positive take on her time in the adult industry, though she acknowledges that her experiences are her own — and they may not be the same that many others have had. A few years ago, Leone was offered the chance to appear on Bigg Boss — a reality TV show that is broadcast in India. It is similar to the show known as Big Brother in some other markets. Leone said the TV show is broadcast across India and watched by millions of people. But she said its unique nature appealed to her as well. "It's new content every single day," said Leone. "Now, in the U.S., when I think of a TV show, there's not one TV show, except for the news, that provides new content every single day to the viewers." Her thinking on the offer was that if she didn't say, yes, she would probably be making "one of the biggest mistakes" of her life. That was a few years ago and Leone said "it turned out for the best."