Sunny Leone
As one of few porn stars with roots in India, Sunny Leone stands out. This former nursing student got a taste for the industry when she posed for Penthouse in 2001, and she was named Pet of the Month in March of that year. Appearances in magazines such as Hustler and Swank followed, and in 2003, Sunny became the Penthouse Pet of the Year. That was the year she starred alongside Tera Patrick in the video Penthouse Pets in Paradise. Sunny made the transition into hardcore porn in 2005, when she signed a three-year contract with Vivid, saying that she would only do girl-on-girl scenes. That December saw the release of her first starring role in Sunny.