Inventing Anna was inspired by a real person and true events, however, some aspects of the mini-series were dramatised or wholly fictional to serve the narrative.
Overview
Inventing Anna was one of the most anticipated limited mini-series to have been released on Netflix in 2022.
Created by Shonda Rhimes’ production company, Shondaland, the miniseries was inspired by the real-life story of con-artist and fake German heiress, Anna Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorokin.
Though the story was inspired by true events, some of the characters and events in the series are fictionalised or exaggerated for the purpose of making entertaining television.
However, for the most part, the mini-series did remain true to the actual events and real-life story of Anna Sorokin. Below, we will share some of the biggest fictionalised aspects of Inventing Anna.
Update: Where is Anna Sorokin now?
Since the release of the Netflix miniseries Inventing Anna, after watching the entire mini-series, one of the biggest questions fans have been asking is, where is Anna Sorokin now?
In 2019, Sorokin was convicted on one count of attempted grand larceny, three counts of grand larceny, and four counts of theft services. She was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison but was released on parole in February 2022.
She was then put into the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York for overstaying her visa. It is believed that she is still currently in the custody of the ICE in Southern California.
How much of Inventing Anna is real?
Inventing Anna did not hide that some aspects of the series were fictionalised. At the beginning of every episode of the mini-series, viewers are treated to the tongue-in-cheek disclaimer that states, “This story is completely true, except for the parts that are totally made up.”
This makes viewers aware to take what they watch with a pinch of salt.
Despite this, however, the series did stay true to the overall sequence of events as they really happened, such as Anna having a boyfriend, the names and characters of her friends, and the fashion she donned during her trial. Though it is worth noting that there were other liberties the story took.
Below, we share three of the biggest fictionalised, untrue liberties the mini-series took that did not align with actual events.
1. Julia Garner as Anna Sorokin
One of the biggest fallacies of the Emmy award winning actress, Julia Garner’s portrayal of Anna Sorokin was her quasi-German accent.
In the narrative of the series, the accent made sense for a transcontinental German heiress, but the accent simply does not sound like Anna Delvey.
This is largely due to the fact that Garner did not interview or meet with Anna Sorokin before taking on the role to ensure that her accent matched that of the real-life con-artist.
Instead, Garner reportedly developed the accent from the source material she read on Anna and used that as inspiration.
2. Protecting the identity of the rich in the series
While Anna Delvey/Sorokin and her friends were characters based on real-life people, the series did take the liberty of creating fictional characters and hotels to represent and protect some of the wealthy people and places that Anna swindled.
A good example of this would be the characters of Nora Radford and financial advisor, Alan Reed, who are fictional characters purportedly inspired by an amalgam of real people.
Similarly, Anna’s boyfriend, Chase Sikorski, is a fictional name, though it is believed that Anna did have a boyfriend, but not much is known about him.
Another fictionalised detail of the story was that there was only one German accountant that Anna created, when in real life, she apparently created two. One was Peter Hennecke, and the second was Bettina Wagner, who was not included in the mini-series.
3. Vivian Kent
Inventing Anna is somewhat “narrated” through the perspective of fiery journalist, Vivian Kent, who works for the Manhattan Magazine.
The character is actually inspired by New York Magazine journalist, Jessica Pressler, who wrote the article that the series is inspired by, titled, How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People.
While it is true that Pressler was pregnant at the time of writing the article and did visit Germany, she denies helping the defence, trespassing Anna’s family home, as she claims that they were planned visits and that all the parties were aware that she was coming.
She also rejects being the fiery personality that Kent is depicted as. In response to the series, Pressler stated, “Vivian is like an all-caps angry email of me, but there are things that are very real mixed into it.”
Final thoughts
Inventing Anna is a more fictionalised version of the real-life events involving con-artist and fake German heiress, Anna Sorokin. While the story took liberties in its attempt to tell a concise but compelling story, it did accurately stick to the overall sequence of events.
Furthermore, it was reported that after the real Anna Sorokin watched the mini-series, she shared, “I think I’m more self-aware of the way I come across, not all of the time, but I just don’t think that I’m so brazen and shameless.”