Banks modeled as a teenager, appearing on a cover of
Teen magazine. She entered the industry under the name "Mirage", but began calling herself "Briana Banks" in 1999, after having the first of two breast enlargement operations. Having had aspirations of being a supermodel, she chose the professional surname "Banks" after model
Tyra Banks. Her first appearance using the new name was in the film
Decadent Whores 9. In June 2001, Banks was
Penthouse magazine's Pet of the Month. On 13 October 2006, Banks reportedly filed a federal lawsuit seeking more than US$75,000 in damages against
Doc Johnson Enterprises, charging that they had created unauthorized products from molds of her genitals. Starting in 2006, Banks went on hiatus from performing in videos and returned in 2008. That same year she was also nominated for five
AVN Awards at the 25th annual
Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas. In 2009, she was inducted into the
AVN Hall of Fame. Banks portrayed the character of
Francine Smith and was featured on the video's box cover. The video was released in September 2011. On 28 December 2015 Briana Banks announced that she was making a comeback in 2016 after a 5-year hiatus. The same year she was inducted into the
XRCO Hall of Fame.
Appearances Banks was featured in the thirteen episode cable television series
Vivid Valley produced by World of Wonder that was broadcast in Europe in 2005 and later had a successful run on
Playboy TV. The series featured stories about the real lives of then
Vivid Girls
Jenna Jameson,
Savanna Samson, Mercedez, Tawny Roberts, Banks, and others.
Other ventures In 2002 Banks was one of the first porn actresses to have an
action figure made in her likeness, by Los Angeles-based Cyber F/X and Sota Toys. ==Awards and nominations==