Top 9 Porn Stars Who Became Mainstream Actress

They may have entertained many and became a known personality as porn stars, but luckily for us, they decided to rock the mainstream cinema as well. From Sunny Leone to Sasha Grey, we take a look at a few of the porn stars who went from adult entertainers to mainstream entertainers. Check it out below!

Known as one of Maxim's top porn stars in 2010, it's safe to say that Sunny Leone had a shining career ahead of her in the adult film industry, but the Indo-Canadian star set her visions on Bollywood in its place. And well, ever since spending a short period on the Indian reality show Bigg Boss, Bollywood showered her with lots of offers and proposals.

Karenjit Kaur Vohra, aka Sunny Leone, has carved a niche in Bollywood by making her debut with Bhatt's Jism 2, and then entertained many by means of sensuousness with films like Jackpot and Ragini MMS 2, along with her scorching item numbers. Meanwhile, she has won many awards from the world of porn during her stint in adult entertainment, and now she is hoping the same in Bollywood mainstream cinema.

Following Sunny's footsteps is our Indian-American star, Priya Rai, who is being named among the Top 100 Hottest Porn Stars as of now. Just like Leone, she too announced her retirement from adult industry to give mainstream cinema a shot. Priya Anjali Rai, who is the famous adult star from the United States, is all set for her Bollywood debut with an Indian 4D film as the female lead.

Cameron Diaz has reportedly starred in a soft porn solo movie very early in her career. She rose to prominence during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding and There's Something About Mary. The Mask became one of the top ten highest grossing films of 1994 and launched Diaz as a sex symbol.

Given that the cult drama series Game of Thrones isn't precisely what you would call a family friendly, it perhaps shouldn't have come as a bolt from the blue when they cast famous adult entertainer Sibel Kekilli as Shae.

For a big name who has often been bestowed the title of the face of modern porn, jobs in the adult entertainment industry weren't exactly hard to come by. But we, for one, weren't complaining when Jesse Jane decided to broaden her horizons and started putting in appearances in mainstream cinema as well, including Baywatch and the popular dramedy series, The Entourage.

The Entourage star Sasha Grey was a famous porn star. Steven Soderbergh cast her in his movie, The Girlfriend Experience, and since then there's no looking back. Meanwhile, she has often been dubbed as the next Jenna Jameson, but the later given her successful crossover to mainstream cinema with the abovementioned mainstream films.

Probably the biggest star in jazz movie history, Jenna Jameson's name is synonymous with porn. She has been called the world's most famous adult-entertainment performer.

The retirement of the world's most famous adult entertainer may have come as a shock to her fan base, but the adult industry's loss turned out to be the mainstream industry's gain as Jenna put her diverse skills to use by starring in a series of mainstream films and has even shared screen space with Paris Hilton & Nicole Richie since.

After having appeared in a number of adult films, Traci Lords has later gone on to transform herself into a very successful mainstream actress.

The American actress, who is infamous for her appearances in adult films while she was juvenile, eventually decided at the age of 22 that it's the time for a career switch. Maintaining her stage name, Traci hung up her thorny heeled boots and made a name for herself in mainstream cinema & television, most notable with films like Underworld and Gilmore Girls.

The Transporter actress Shu Qi has worked as an adult star before she turned mainstream actress. Born in Xindian District, Taipei County (now New Taipei City), Shu Qi moved to Hong Kong at the age of 17. She eventually came under the management of Hong Kong film producer Manfred Wong, who signed her to several Hong Kong films such as Sex & Zen II (1996). Qi also appeared in the Chinese edition of Playboy magazine.

Shu Qi starred in Derek Yee's 1996 film, Viva Erotica, which was about the erotic film industry in Hong Kong, together with Karen Mok and Leslie Cheung. Since then, she has appeared in mainstream Hong Kong films such as Gorgeous (1998), Stanley Kwan's The Island Tales (1999) and Hou Hsiao-Hsien's critically acclaimed Millennium Mambo (2000). In 2002, Shu Qi appeared in the French action film The Transporter and Corey Yuen's So Close.