Katsuni is of French/Vietnamese heritage. Her father is Vietnamese and her mother's family is French. She is fluent in both English and French. After studied political sciences for a year at Grenoble Institute of Political Studies, she entered the adult film industry in 2002 at about the age of 23, and has since appeared in over 200 films. In December 2006, Katsuni signed an exclusive performing contract with Digital Playground. She originally performed using the stage name Katsumi (a common given name in Japan for both sexes), but she was barred by a French judge in January 2007 from using the name after a woman named Mary Katsumi sued over the resemblance to her own name. In October 2007, Katsuni was fined 20,000 euro for violations of the ban on using the name "Katsumi".