
Leanni Lei was born in the Philippines as Anna M. Stetler. Her family moved to the United States when she was quite young. She grew up in Irvine, California and graduated from Irvine High Irvine in 1991. She was a cheerleader and member of the honor society in high school. Her father was in the military and her mother worked as a restaurant manager. During her last year in high school, her parents divorced, and she became rebellious, smoking marijuana, and being expelled from the cheerleader squad.
Lei went to college for a year and a half (including a semester at the University of California, Irvine, then quit to go into exotic dancing on the east coast to earn money. She moved to Connecticut in 1993. Leanni became a pornographic actress partly due to her admiration for porn star Mimi Miyagi. Her first movie was filmed for Ed Powers in October 1997, who was also Miyagi's first director. Leanni returned to college, and continued living and going to college in Connecticut (majoring in finance with a minor in accounting), while appearing in pornography in California. After working for a year or so, she felt "burnt out" and quietly dropped out to rest and earn her college degree. She resumed working in movies in June 1999. Mimi Miyagi helped her set up her web site.
Despite her generally short career, Lei has been known for doing extreme scenes at the time of her career as a porn star, such as her performances with Max Hardcore. She has said that working with Max paid her way through college.
Lei won the Model of the Year award from Oriental Dolls magazine in September 1998.

Porn... It's a Living
1998 · as Self

Up and Cummers 60
2000

Kumikaze
2003

Taxi Dancer
1998

Tails of Perversity 5
1998

S.M.U.T. 2: Moving Violations
1998

Double O Blonde
2003

Cum Shot Starlets
2002

Casting Call 20
1999

Eye Spy Kira Kener
2002

Swingers
1998

North Pole: The Loadman Cummith
1998

Finally Legal 2
2000

I Swear I'm 18 2
2006

Slumber Party 8
1999

Planet Max 2
2001

Golden Guzzlers 3
1999

Max Hardcore Extreme 9
1999