Did you know that many of our favourite actors in the film industry started out as porn stars? Check this list to know the actors who transitioned to the mainstream cinema from the porn industry.
1. Sunny Leone
Sunny Leone aka Karenjit Kaur Vohra participated in the 5th season of the reality show, Bigg Boss. She made her Bollywood debut with the movie Jism 2. Since then, she has acted in a lot of other regional and Hindi movies and hosted reality shows like Splitsvilla.
Apart from acting, she has also featured in some of the most sizzling item numbers. Sunny is one of the few celebrities in India who works for animals welfare and her initiatives for women empowerment and other social causes have been noteworthy. She along with her husband also started their production house by the name Suncity Media in 2017.
Named among BBC’s 100 most influential women in 2016, Sunny Leone featured on the Verve Magazine with Faye D’Souza when the two had an in-depth conversation on issues like sexual violence and online harassment.
2. Matt LeBlanc
Before FRIENDS, Matt LeBlanc starred in The Red Shoes Diaries, a soft porn series made in the 90s. The series ran for several seasons and Matt was a part of quite a few episodes in the first season.
3. Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone’s got his break through Rocky. The Rocky movie franchise has received 9 Oscar nominations, including 3 wins.
Before being a part of the most successful movie franchises of all time, Sylvester Stallone featured in a low-budget adult film called Party at Kitty and Stud’s made in 1969.
4. Jackie Chan
Kung Fu film star Jackie Chan acted in a porn movie All in the Family in 1975.
5. Cameron Diaz
Cameron Díaz who has starred in over 40 Hollywood movies and is one of the highest paid actresses in the world, apparently acted in a soft-core porn movie of 30 minutes.
She was working as a model when she auditioned for a big part in The Mask. Despite having no previous acting experience, she was cast as the female lead in the film opposite Jim Carrey. From comedy to drama and animation, she has performed a wide variety of roles during her career and established herself as an actor par excellence.
6. David Duchovny
The American actor best known for starring in the television series The X-Files was also a part of the softcore porn series The Red Shoe Diaries along with Matt Le Blanc.
7. Sasha Grey
The Girlfriend Experience and Entourage star spent nearly 3 years in the adult entertainment industry before formally announcing her retirement in April 2011.
8. Shu Qi
Qi’s first English-language film was Transporter alongside Jason Statham in 2002. Other Hollywood films in which she worked, include The Eye 2, New York and I Love You. She earned big name for herself in Taiwan. Before all that Qi was a softcore porn model appearing in films like Hong Kong Penthouse and the Chinese edition of Playboy.
9. Traci Lords
Traci Lords appeared in several TV shows and mainstream Hollywood films like Gilmore Girls, Roseanne, after quitting the porn industry.
10. Sibel Kekilli
‘Shae’ from Game of Thrones was a German porn star by the name ‘Dilara’ before appearing in the show. She has several other successful films to her name in Germany.
11. Arnold Schwarzenegger
The Terminator actor who also served as the governor of California allegedly did a soft porn travel video in 1983. It is believed that the circumstances compelled him to appear in gay porn and orgies.
12. Helen Mirren
The English actor who has portrayed 3 British queens in different films and television series started out in a controversial semi-porn film Caligula. At the time, she didn’t know that she was starring in an adult film.
How many of these did you know?
