Sunny Leone: It took a while but I was fortunate that people accepted me in Bollywood

“I want to come back so bad. India is my home, Los Angeles is just my vacation home. India is where my heart is,” actor Sunny Leone is clearly missing being here. She had flown to LA in May this year alongwith her family, husband Daniel Weber and three children — Noah, Asher and Nisha.

Describing LA as beautiful, she feels that though the pandemic gave people a chance to slow down and relax, compared to the hectic life before, “there is a sense of stress as well because nobody’s working or doing anything. I think it would be a mix of both. Normal life before the pandemic, for me, was working and going on sets. Going to the office, taking care of my children, and more than anything, just a lot of work. Now, it’s some work here and there, digital videos and stuff, taking care of kids and figuring out when the next step would happen. It’s not as exciting as before.”

Resuming work is definitely on the cards for Leone. The situation in India is what is holding her back. “Coronavirus is at it’s peak even right now. Now that proper transportation has been open, there could be another spike. I really want to come back and start working, but health and safety comes first. I miss it,” she tells us. 

It’s been eight years for Leone in Bollywood, and she managed to create a space for herself in the initial years itself. However, everything didn’t come easy, even if the journey has been “absolutely amazing”, in her words.

“I am so thankful for everything that has happened, and people here have been so inviting, caring and accepting. I don’t come from a typical ‘journey’, it’s been very, very difficult than almost everybody in Bollywood. It was tough, a lot of crazy things happened, and there is a lot more good than bad,” says the 39-year-old.

She goes on to add that the Hindi film industry is amazing, but it took time for people to accept her. Leone says, “My journey is so different from everybody out there, and I was fortunate that people accepted me. It took a while for people to do that, but even when I first got here, there was a vast majority of people who accepted me, and that is why I survived. It’s the fans who kept me alive, and kept everything going. If it was not for them, I don’t think I would be here.”

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