Delvey, whose birth name is actually Anna Sorokin, a 30-year-old Russian-born German woman who pretended to be a German heiress between 2013 and 2017 in New York City. Her real life is far from the glitz and glam fairy tale that she had told wealthy friends and acquaintances. In reality, Delvey was one of the two children in a working-class family: her father was not an oil-industry titan, nor was he the solar panel businessman that she had claimed him to be. Instead, he worked as a truck driver before opening a business specialising in energy-efficient devices. 

There’s so much mystery, drama, lies, and a general feeling of shock and disbelief from the public—how was it possible that one girl was able to get away with so much? Now, with Netflix’s upcoming show, Inventing Anna, we’ll learn just that. 

Set to premiere in 2022, the series is produced by Netflix and Shondaland. Created by Bridgerton producer, Shonda Rhimes, the cast includes Julia Garner as Delvey, swapping out her gold locks for Delvey’s brown ones. Anna Chlumsky will be playing Vivian, a character based loosely on Jessica Pressler, the journalist who wrote the viral The Cut article. Katie Lowes and Laverne Cox will be taking on the role of Rachel and Neff respectively, two of Delvey’s former friends. 

Michael Xufu Huang, who was one of the first to become suspicious of Delvey does not seem to have a character on the show. In 2015, Huang fronted a US$3,000 bill to cover Delvey’s flights and hotel room for their trip to the Venice Biennale and had to press on the subject in order to be repaid. 

Delvey was paid US$320,000 by Netflix for her story, however, due to a law that prevents criminals from profiting from their crime, her bank account is currently frozen. Her victims are also able to make claims to the money first and it’s said that over US$170,000 have been used to pay back banks. 

Netflix shared first glimpses of the drama in October 2021, captioning “This story is completely true...except for all of the parts that aren't”, and released the trailer in mid-January, drawing attention from followings of this bizarre tale. While Anna herself has announced that she won't be watching the series when it airs—mostly due to the fact that she's currently in ICE detention in upstate New York—there's nothing stopping you from binging the series today. 

Watch Inventing Anna here on Netflix

This article was published on October 28, 2021 and updated on February 11, 2022. 

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