collaboration between Netflix and Scandal’s mastermind Shonda Rhimes. Each of the limited series’ episodes starts with a witty disclaimer stating, “This whole story is completely true, except for all the parts that are totally made up,” which could be a reference to both the show’s dramatization of the real events and the lies told by Sorokin in real life.
Inventing Anna is based on the 2018 New York Magazine exposé “Maybe She Had So Much Money She Just Lost Track of It: How an Aspiring 'It' Girl Tricked New York's Party People — and its Banks” by journalist Jessica Pressler. The Netflix-Shondaland production focuses as much on the investigation by Pressler’s alter-ego in the show, Vivian Kent (Anna Chlumsky) as it does on socialite Anna Sorokin, known as Anna Delvey (Ozark’s Julia Garner) in New York’s social circles. While Inventing Anna couldn’t have existed without Sorokin selling the rights to her life story to Netflix, making $320,000 in the process, Pressler’s involvement in the show was also practical, as she was among Inventing Anna’s producers.
Despite bordering ludicrousness at times, many of Inventing Anna’s plot twists and details mirror what truly happened and what was published in the exposé, with some real-life events even sounding weirder than what the show portrays. Still, some of the characters the Netflix show briefly focuses on are either fully made up—such as Val (James Cusati-Moyer) and Nora Radford (Grey’s Anatomy star Kate Burton)—or they aren’t as predominant in the original story as the TV show makes them out to be, such as Anna’s boyfriend Chase (Saamer Usmani). Here’s what Netflix’s Inventing Anna changes and what it gets right.
Vivian Kent Didn't Convince Anna To Go To Trial
Inventing Anna episode 1 sees Vivian Kent at work, where she refuses the story assigned to her in order to pursue Anna Delvey’s story and investigate it. One of the first obstacles Vivian faces is that Anna might take the deal the District Attorney’s office proposed, making an investigative piece on her useless. Vivian also feels she needs to write about Delvey, not only because she sees the story’s potential but because she needs to rehabilitate her public image as a journalist, as in the past she reported something in a listicle that was a lie.
Netflix’s Inventing Anna episode 1 heavily implies that Vivian convinces Anna to go to trial, but that would not only be unethical if a journalist did that in real life, it also could never have happened as the show's timeline does not match the real-life one. Pressler, on whom Vivian is based, learned about Anna after the fake heiress had already decided she wanted a trial. Moreover, even though Pressler really wrote a listicle containing a piece of news that ended up being a lie, her journalistic reputation had already recovered after her 2015 feature "The Hustlers at Scores," on which the 2019 movie Hustlers is based.
The Real Anna Expressed Remorse For Her Crimes
Right after sentencing, Anna Sorokin, mirroring the actions of Inventing Anna's protagonist, said in an interview that she wasn't sorry but that she regretted "the way she went about certain things." Although that unrepentant attitude was shared both by Sorokin and her character, portrayed by Julie Garner in Inventing Anna, the real Sorokin changed her mind in October 2019. In a parole board hearing, Sorokin said that her quote after the sentencing was taken out of context and that she was "really ashamed and really sorry" for what she did (via The New York Post).
Certain Names & Locations Were Changed
While the main story in Inventing Anna precisely follows how real-life events unfurled, names of some places and characters were changed. The magazine where Kent works is named Manhattan, while in real life, Pressler worked at New York Magazine. Anna really spent months at a hotel where she handed $100 tips to workers, but the hotel’s name was 11 Howard, not 12 George. In the Shondaland show, Alan Reed (Anthony Edwards) is Anna’s financial advisor, while in real life, it was Andy Lance that advised her. Similarly to Reed, though, he had a close working relationship with Sorokin and also confirmed she had the resources that Sorokin claimed to have.
Vivian's Trip To Was Actually Organized By Anna
Inventing Anna episode 8 sees Vivian going to to try to understand Anna's roots, and to try and interview her family. Vivian ends up following Anna’s father to their old family home in Eschweiler, and she is discovered lurking on the property by Anna’s brother. Although Pressler really went to for research purposes, her visit was expected by Anna’s parents. Moreover, Sorokin helped Pressler organize the trip, suggesting to her what places to visit, where she spent time as a teenager, and helping her arrange meetings.
Anna's Family Still ed Her (But Weren't At Her Trial)
Succession’s Arian Moayed portrays Todd, who calls Anna’s parents in Inventing Anna episode 9 to convince them to her during the trial, although he ultimately fails. Anna’s family is portrayed as distant throughout the series, as they don’t understand her or her actions and have given up on her. Despite Sorokin’s family truly not being present at her trial or her sentencing, in reality, they still took part in it by writing a letter to the judge who was supposed to sentence Sorokin, Diane Kiesel. Although she wasn’t swayed, Sorokin’s family wrote to the judge asking to go easy on Sorokin (via Insider), saying she “took a series of incorrect decisions to accomplish her goals,” but also that she wasn’t a person who should be behind bars. In the letter, they also confirmed to have been in in the past, contrary to what Inventing Anna shows.
Anna's Trial & Courtroom Appearance Really Were That Strange
Similar to her fictional counterpart, the real Anna Sorokin really refused to wear the outfits provided by the court. Just like Inventing Anna shows, it not only happened several times, but Sorokin also truly hired a celebrity stylist for the outfits she was supposed to wear in the proceedings. The outfits actually became popular, and just like in the show, there’s an Instagram page devoted to them, whose first post dates back to March 27, 2019. While the reason why the stylist’s outfits often don’t reach Rikers isn’t explained in Inventing Anna, Sorokin told Insider how to get to the trial she had to leave Rikers at 4 am only to come back at 10 pm, which was outside visiting hours. As a result, the outfits she wanted to wear often couldn’t be delivered to her.