More often than one might think, a great real-life story can serve as the foundation for a smash TV series or movie. In this case, it was the story of Anna Sorokin through a newspaper article that inspired Inventing Anna, the drama miniseries created and produced by Shonda Rhimes. This producer, screenwriter, and author is no stranger to the dramatic genre, having created shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, making this Netflix miniseries an incredible addition to her extensive portfolio. Inventing Anna revolves around young Russian Anna Sorokin who, using the name Anna Delvey, fooled some of New York's elite into believing she was a German heiress with a massive fortune, and then, using that reputation, pilfered hundreds of thousands of dollars to fulfill her dreams of opening an exclusive art-themed club.
In 2018, Netflix and Shonda Rhimes' production company Shondaland acquired the rights to Sorokin's story for $320,000, money that Anna would initially use to pay restitution and legal fees. However, due to the Son of Sam law, she was unable to access that money or even benefit from her newfound fame from the show. When the series premiered, it was met with mixed reviews, garnering a 64% score on Rotten Tomatoes. While Inventing Anna was considered to be inconsistent in its tone, it was particularly praised for the work of the cast, featuring Julia Garner, Anna Chlumsky, Arian Moayed, and Katie Lowes, among others. Recently, in fact, Garner earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series, while the show itself scored a nomination for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.
As a miniseries based on real events and actual people, not every character in Inventing Anna is named after the person who inspired them. This article will review the most important characters in Inventing Anna and the people they are based on.
Julia Garner — Anna Delvey
The leading role in this miniseries was played by Julia Garner, an actress who gained great recognition for her role as Ruth Langmore in Ozark. In several interviews for Inventing Anna, Garner talked about the challenge of impersonating this fake German heiress, especially in relation to her peculiar accent. For her part, Anna Delvey, whose real last name is Sorokin, praised the actress for nailing her accent. A lesser-known fact is that, before shooting Inventing Anna, Garner met Sorokin in prison, where the latter still remains to this day. Sorokin described Garner as a very sweet girl, while the latter described the former as charming, and therefore she was not surprised that Sorokin managed to pull off all her scams in New York.
Anna Chlumsky — Vivian Kent (Jessica Pressler)
At only 11 years old, Anna Chlumsky rose to worldwide fame for co-starring with Macaulay Culkin in the movie My Girl. And while she has appeared in other productions over the years, Inventing Anna is probably her strongest lead since the HBO series Veep. In the Netflix miniseries, Chlumsky is Vivian Kent, the journalist committed to writing the story of Anna Delvey, and who eventually grows attached to the detainee. While her name is fictional, the character is based on Jessica Pressler, the reporter who wrote the original article on which the series was based. Chlumsky also served as a producer on the series.
Arian Moayed — Todd Spodek
Arian Moayed became notorious for his role as Stewy Hosseini in the series Succession, but in Inventing Anna he plays Todd Spodek, an underrated lawyer who takes on Anna's case and tries to help her, despite his client's constant requests and whims. The person who inspired this character bears the same name, and still works as a lawyer to this day. Just like Garner and Sorokin, Moayed and Spodek also had a meeting prior to shooting the miniseries in order to discuss some aspects of the character.
Katie Lowes — Rachel Williams
Rhimes had previous experience working with Katie Lowes because of the show Scandal, where the actress played Quinn Perkins. In Inventing Anna, Lowes is Rachel DeLoache Williams, Anna's best friend and the one out of whom she swindles thousands of dollars. The person who inspired this character happens to share the same name and, as the miniseries revealed, she sold her story to Vanity Fair in order to regain some money and also wrote a book about it, the rights to which she sold to HBO. When she was interviewed to get her opinion of the series, Williams said she was not very happy with how her character was portrayed, particularly with the fact that the series tries, according to her perception, to get the audience to empathize with a criminal.
Saamer Usmani — Chase Sikorski
Saamer Usmani, known for his brief participation in Succession, plays Chase Sikorski, Anna Delvey's boyfriend. This young man is an entrepreneur working on an app called Wake. Throughout the series, Chase grows suspicious of his girlfriend, which is why their relationship becomes quite stormy. The article that inspired the miniseries never mentioned the name of Anna Sorokin's real boyfriend — calls him "The Futurist" — so there is no confirmation as to who is the person who inspired Sikorski's character. However, following some research carried out by several media sources, it is believed that it could be inspired by Hunter Lee Soik.
Laverne Cox — Kacy Duke
Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox appeared in Inventing Anna as Kacy Duke, a celebrity trainer who became Anna's personal coach and quickly one of her best friends. Duke actually exists in real life; she has the same name as her character and, as the series stated, she was Sorokin's personal trainer. Duke still works as a personal trainer today, and she is very active on social media. When consulted about her characterization in the series, she said she was very pleased with Cox's portrayal of her, whom she described as adorable and quirky. At the same time, Kacy admitted that the series brought back a lot of memories, and that according to her, the script was quite close to reality.
Anthony Edwards — Alan Reed
Known for playing Dr. Mark Greene on ER, Anthony Edwards portrayed Alan Reed, the lawyer hired by Anna to help her get a loan to open her club. Following his initial rejection, Reed ends up taking Delvey on as a client and connecting her with institutions that could finance her. Eventually, however, Reed also becomes suspicious of Anna's identity and grows fearful of the mistake he has made. Reed is the fictionalized version of Andy Lance, Anna's real-life financial lawyer.
Alexis Floyd — Nefftari Davis
Known for her leading role in The Bold Type, Alexis Floyd made her way into Inventing Anna as Neff Davis, an aspiring filmmaker who worked as a concierge at an exclusive New York hotel in which Sorokin was staying. The relationship between Davis and Sorokin progressively grew, so much so that, at one point, Anna promised Neff to finance her film career. The person who inspired this character has the same name, occupation, and passion, and is in fact one of the few people who, to this day, still considers Anna to be a close friend, despite everything that has happened between them and Anna's culpability.