Charmane Star was born Sheryn Santos Lascano on May 5, 1980, in the Philippines. She moved to the US with her family at age two, and grew up around California--they lived in San Francisco and San Diego, among others, until her mother remarried and they settled down in Sacramento. After graduation she began a modeling career. Not long afterwards she got into nude modeling, and soon went into the adult-film industry. She left the adult-film business shortly after entering it and opened a nightclub in Milwaukee, WI, from 2001-2003, but she she eventually returned.

In addition, she began getting parts in "mainstream" films, and has appeared in films shot for cable networks HBO, Cinemax and Showtime. She has appeared in music videos and several mainstream magazines. She shot her first "mainstream" theatrical film, Black Dynamite (2009) in 2009 and is working on several more.