Lisa Michelle Bonet was born on November 16, 1967, in San Francisco, California, to Arlene Joyce Litman, a music teacher of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, and Allen Bonet, an African American opera singer.

She grew up primarily in New York City and Los Angeles, attending Reseda High School and studying at the Celluloid Actor's Studio, with her parents divorcing during her childhood. Lisa Bonet began her career as a child model and appeared in beauty pageants and television commercials before landing her breakthrough role at age sixteen as the free-spirited Denise Huxtable, the second-oldest daughter in the Huxtable family, on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992.​

Her portrayal of Denise earned widespread acclaim and a 1986 Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, while she reprised the character in the first season of the spin-off A Different World in 1987, departing due to her pregnancy with daughter Zoë Kravitz.

Lisa Bonet sought to break from her wholesome image with a controversial role as Epiphany Proudfoot in the 1987 psychological horror film Angel Heart opposite Mickey Rourke, featuring a graphic sex scene that drew backlash and contributed to tensions leading to her firing from The Cosby Show in 1991 over creative differences.

She married musician Lenny Kravitz in 1987, but the couple divorced in 1993 amid her selective approach to acting to focus on family.​

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Lisa Bonet resurfaced with supporting roles as Rachel Banks in the thriller Enemy of the State (1998) alongside Will Smith, Marie De Salle in the comedy-drama High Fidelity (2000), and Queenie in the biker film Biker Boyz (2003), alongside smaller parts in Bank Robber (1993), Final Combination (1994), and Whitepaddy (2005).

She appeared in guest spots on series like Life on Mars (2008) and collaborated professionally with her partner Jason Momoa, whom she began dating in 2005, in projects including the SundanceTV series The Red Road (2014-2015) and the independent film Road to Paloma (2013), where she played Magdalena.

She legally changed her name to Lilakoi Moon in 2020, reflecting her spiritual inclinations, and maintained a low profile in the 2010s, prioritizing motherhood to her two children with Momoa, son Nakoa-Wolf and daughter Lola.​

Lisa Bonet and Momoa announced their separation in January 2022 after sixteen years together, though they described it as an amicable evolution emphasizing co-parenting, and she continued selective work, including a voice role in the 2023 Netflix series From the Heart and appearances tied to her enduring Cosby Show legacy.

Known for her bohemian style, natural beauty, and eclectic career choices blending mainstream television with edgier cinema, she received additional accolades like a 1989 Young Artist Award nomination and a 2001 Black Reel Award nod for High Fidelity.