Ileana D'Cruz born on 1 November 1987. She was born into a Goan Catholic family in Mahim, Mumbai. She was raised partly in Mumbai and partly in Goa. Her family relocated to Parra, Goa when she was 10 years old.Her mother tongue is Konkani.

She made her feature film debut in the Telugu language romance film Devadasu (2006), directed by Y. V. S. Chowdary. Devadasu became the year's first major commercial success, eventually grossing around 140 million, whilst earning D'Cruz the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debutant. She made her Tamil-language film debut in Kedi (2006). Her career took a turn for the better with the release of her well-received 2007 film Aata. She became one of the highest paid actress in South India. In early 2012, she starred in the Kollywood film Nanban, a remake of the 2009 Hindi film 3 Idiots directed by S. Shankar. The film opened to critical acclaim and became a major financial success.

She made her Hindi debut with Anurag Basu's Barfi! Her performance was well received, earning her a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. The film was screened at the Busan International Film Festival, Marrakech International Film Festival and was chosen as India’s official entry to the Oscars for the 85th Academy Awards.

In her early days of career, she did advertisements for Electrolux, Emami Talc, and Fair & Lovely. In 2014, she acquired Portuguese nationality.

She got married to with her boyfriend, Australian photographer, Andrew Kneebone.