At 17 years old, Carrera ran away from home due to overwhelming parental pressures and attempted suicide several times.[11] She received a full scholarship to Rutgers University, but dropped out after realizing she could make large sums of money dancing and modeling.[11] Soon after leaving Rutgers, she moved to Los Angeles.
Carrera's adult film career started in 1993[14] and appeared in over 350 adult films.[11] In 1995, she became the firstAsian performer ever to win theAVN Female Performer of the Year Award.[15] Carrera retired from the film industry in 2003, following her marriage to Don Lemmon.[2]
Carrera lent her voice to several erotichentaiOVAs for publisherPink Pineapple, such asInmu (2001)[16] andShusaku (1999).[17] In October 2001, Carrera attended theBig Apple Anime Fest in New York City for her voice roles and along withKobe Tai was an Opening Night Guest of Honor at the fest's Midnight Anime Concourse.[18]
Carrera was also in the 2012 documentaryAfter Porn Ends, which documents the lives of actors after they leave the adult film industry.[19] In the documentary, she discusses her membership inMensa. Despite being acelebrity member of the group, the organization refused to link to her website because it contained pornographic elements.[20]
Asia Carrera after receiving her Juris Doctor degree from St. Mary's University School of Law, May 2024
Carrera is anatheist.[24] In November 2014, she wore acolander on her head for her Utah driver's license photograph. State law normally prohibits the wearing of hats in driver license photos, but there is an exception for religious headwear and Carerra's colander was worn in honor of the religion of theFlying Spaghetti Monster.[1][3] She is one of about a dozen "Pastafarian" Utahns who have worn a colander in their official state ID photos.[25]
In September 1995, Carrera married adult film directorBud Lee. They divorced in 2003, but remain good friends.[2] She marriednutritionist and author Don Lemmon on December 19, 2003.[26] The couple moved toSt. George, Utah, where she gave birth to a daughter on March 4, 2005.[27] On June 10, 2006, Lemmon was killed in a car accident outside ofLas Vegas.[26] Seven weeks later, on July 31, Carrera gave birth to the couple's second child.[2][28] In June 2012, she gave birth to a boy whom she later placed for adoption.[29]
In 2015, she was arrested forDUI with "a reported blood alcohol content of .254 percent – more than three times Utah’s .08 legal limit." She pleadedno contest in exchange for avoiding jail time and was sentenced tohouse arrest.[30]
In 2015, Carrera began studies atUtah Tech University,[31] where she was joined two years later by her 11-year-old daughter.[32] At that time, Carrera's daughter was the youngest student to attend college at Utah Tech, and the youngest full-time college student in the state of Utah.[33]
^abcdef"Bio". asiacarrera.com.Archived from the original on April 8, 2010. RetrievedMay 18, 2010.
^ab"Ex-porn star wears colander in driver's license photo".USA Today. Associated Press. November 17, 2014. p. 1. RetrievedNovember 18, 2014.Asia Lemmon, whose legal name appears on her driver's license as Jessica Steinhauser, said the pasta strainer represents her beliefs in the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
^Carrera-Lemmon, Asia (December 7, 2016).(Untitled). Facebook. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
^"The Top 10 Porn Stars From New Jersey",WCHR-FM, November 1, 2016. Accessed October 8, 2018. "Asia Carrera - Born in NYC, but grew up in Little Silver, going to Red Bank Regional High School."
^ab"The Women of Porn",Playboy, March 2002, page 128
^abcSager, Mike (September 2011). "The Porn Identity".Playboy: 118.
^"They're Accomplished, They're Famous, and They're Mensans".Mensa Bulletin (476). American Mensa: 23. July 2004.ISSN0025-9543.
