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She’s the “German heiress” who took the New York social, art, tech, and financial scenes by storm and fibbed her way to the top before a highly publicized downfall that saw her ambitious art and high-society project slip through her fingers. The Shonda Rhimes Netflix miniseries, Inventing Anna, tells the story of a Russian-born, German immigrant, Anna Delvey, aka Anna Sorokin, who set her sights high and wanted to make her own way in New York City, but whose continued deceit led to her undoing.
Her wit and brains garnered the attention of New York’s elite and media alike. These are the iconic main characters of Inventing Anna and the real-life figures that inspired them.
Julia Garner as Anna Delvey (Sorokin)
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Netflix veteran Julia Garner (Ozark, Dirty John) stars as the title character, Anna Delvey (Sorokin). Born in Russia in 1991 and then moving to Germany as a child, the miniseries tracks the rise and fall of Sorokin in the ranks of New York social circles from her early to mid-twenties. Beginning as a Purple Magazine intern in Paris, Sorokin eventually transferred to the magazine’s New York headquarters and befriended high-profile New Yorkers, including fashion designers and socialites. The characters Val Baron (James Cusati-Moyer) and Nora Radford (Kate Burton) are an amalgam of these connections she makes.
Sorokin presents herself as a wealthy German heiress who lives in the lap of luxury and generously but frivolously spends money on friends, acquaintances, and even hotel staff she tips with hundred-dollar bills. The culmination and the ultimate goal of her clandestine but skillful efforts are the Anna Delvey Foundation (ADF), which was to be, in her own words to Jessica Pressler, of New York Magazine, a “dynamic visual-arts center”, among other aspiring pursuits. After exhausting the good faith of her friends, connections, and financial backers, and just a few too many fraudulent money wire transfer receipts, Sorokin escaped to Los Angeles and was subsequently arrested outside a notable local rehabilitation center.
Sorokin was sentenced to 12 years in prison at 28 years old, was released in 2021, and then taken in by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for overstaying her Visa. According to BBC News, Sorokin is being held by ICE at a New Jersey county jail since March 2021, awaiting deportation to Germany.
Anna Chlumsky as Vivian Kent (based on Jessica Pressler)
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Anna Chlumsky (of VEEP fame), plays fictional Manhattan magazine journalist Vivian Kent, who is based on the previously mentioned American journalist and New York Magazine writer, Jessica Pressler. In the series, Kent is an expectant mother and down-on-her-luck in her career after losing a job offer at Bloomberg News when the subject of her story (a high school student who allegedly made almost 80 million dollars on the stock market) was found to have falsified his story. This parallels Pressler’s own life. Before her baby is born, Kent wants to redeem herself by reporting Sorokin’s story, identifying her as not just another dumb socialite but an adept fraudster who nearly made it big. Kent’s/Pressler’s article on Sorokin was titled: “Maybe She Has So Much Money She Just Lost Track of it.” It was published in 2018.
Before writing about Sorokin, Pressler also wrote another well-known piece, about a group of strippers who drugged and stole money from their clients, which would go on to be adapted into the 2019 feature film, Hustlers, starring Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu. Pressler is currently a contributing editor at New York Magazine and a contributor at Vanity Fair magazine. Her New York Magazine story on Sorokin was expanded and published into a book entitled: Bad Influence: Money, Lies, Power, and the World that Created Anna Delvey.
Laverne Cox as Kacy Duke
Laverne Cox (Promising Young Woman, Orange Is the New Black) plays celebrity personal trainer, fitness guru, life coach, influencer, and holistic healer, Kacy Duke. Duke is one of a trio of Sorokin’s friendship group who enjoys her lavish spending and pampering, including a trip to Morocco and stay at a Riad that ends with Duke leaving early following a bout of “food poisoning”.
Upon her return to New York, Duke is accosted by Sorokin on the phone, who begs her for money to get a flight back home after supposedly being “robbed”. When Sorokin returns home, she repeatedly hangs out in Duke’s apartment lobby and even couch-surfs at her apartment, being a particularly unwelcome house guest. Duke eventually severs ties with Sorokin and remains loyal to Rachel Williams, until it is revealed that Williams has exploited her former friendship with Sorokin for personal gain. Duke is known only as “the trainer” in Pressler’s piece, as she initially refused to be named as a source, but was identified for the series. According to the last episode of the series, it is said that Duke continues to be a “successful life coach/trainer” but has removed the negative energy, “pain in the ass clients” from her roster.
Katie Lowes as Rachel Williams
Katie Lowes (Scandal) portrays Rachel Williams, another former friend of Sorokin who also enjoys the prestige of being associated with her. It is in Morocco that Sorokin is revealed to be unable to pay for the Riad and a tour of the Yves Saint Laurent gardens in Marrakech. Williams, a photo editor at Vanity Fair, begrudgingly hands over her work Amex and personal Amex to pay for their stay. It is only after Williams returns home to New York that she discovers Sorokin has charged expenses to her work card leaving her with a 62,000-dollar debt. In the penultimate episode of the series, Williams assists the police in arresting Sorokin while she is in rehab.
Williams was distraught about never being reimbursed the full amount from Sorokin and tried to fight this in court. However, she sold her story for an amount that went above and beyond her debt repayment. It was published in Vanity Fair and a book titled: My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress.
Alexis Floyd as Neffatari Davis (Neff)
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Sorokin’s most loyal friend in the series is Neffatari Davis (Neff), played by Alexis Floyd. Neff works as a concierge at the 12 George hotel, based on the 11 Howard hotel in New York City. She is an expert guest services attendant with many connections to the most prestigious venues, restaurants, spas, and the like. Her above and beyond VIP treatment of Sorokin does not go unnoticed or unrewarded, with Neff being invited to join Sorokin at her many exclusive events and being tipped generously. During one dinner, however, Neff foots the bill when Sorokin is unable to pay. Sorokin also fails to pay her hotel bill for some time and Neff starts to question her identity as the German heiress she claims to be. Sorokin eventually pays her bill and leaves the hotel.
The two forged a meaningful friendship and Neff truly cared about Sorokin’s welfare after her arrest, even creating a fashion Instagram account of her friend’s court looks under the handle: “annadelveycourtlooks” to increase her presence in the media. Sorokin supported Neff’s filmmaker dreams and offered to fund her first film. Neff remains friendly with Sorokin but has moved on, living in Los Angeles and finally working in her dream job.
Arian Moyaed as Todd Spodek
Sorokin’s defense lawyer, Todd Spodek, is played by Arian Moyaed (Succession). Kent and Spodek work together funneling through the numerous boxes of discovery against Sorokin. Both have a fraught and love-hate relationship with Sorokin but show empathy towards her and aim to help her fight her financial fraud and larceny charges.
Following Spodek’s high-profile case defending Sorokin, he became a well-known defender for financial fraudsters. The end of the series says he had a health scare and has cut back on his long hours at work to enjoy more vacation time with his family.
