It’s been two years since Netflix revealed plans for Inventing Anna – a Shonda Rhimes drama about Anna Sorokin (better known as Anna Delvey) – but we finally have a release date for the true crime series.
Inventing Anna – which will star Ozark‘s Julia Garner as the woman who pretended to be a wealthy heiress and defrauded hotels, banks and wealthy friends – is set to arrive on Netflix next year and while there’s still a little while to wait, the streamer has released a number of first-look images to keep us going until then.
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The photos of Garner in the role include some of the fraudster in all her pre-prison glamour, as well as some of Sorokin after her arrest, with one image featuring Sorokin in jail attire as she speaks to journalist Vivian (played by Veep’s Anna Chlumsky).
Based on the New York Magazine article ‘How Anna Delvey tricked New York’s party people‘ by Jessica Pressler, the series will look at the story that dominated headlines in 2018 and explore the “love-hate bond” between Anna and reporter Vivian as she “fights the clock to answer the biggest question in NYC: who is Anna Delvey?”.
Here’s everything you need to know about Netflix’s upcoming true-crime drama.
Inventing Anna release date
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Netflix has announced that Inventing Anna will arrive on the streamer in 2022 – however, an exact date is yet to be confirmed.
Filming was rumoured to have started in October 2019, according to the Film and Television Industry Alliance.
However, with the coronavirus pandemic having stalled production across the TV and film industry for the past few months, it’s possible that the Netflix drama may have also faced delays.
What is Inventing Anna about?
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Inventing Anna follows journalist Vivian, who is tasked with investigating Anna Delvey – a social media star and apparent German heiress storming New York’s social scene and stealing her rich acquaintances’ money.
“Anna and the reporter form a dark, funny love-hate bond as Anna awaits trial and our reporter fights the clock to answer the biggest question in NYC: who is Anna Delvey?” Netflix teases.
The series is inspired by Jessica Pressler’s New York Magazine article, ‘How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People’, with Pressler on board as a producer.
Inventing Anna trailer
Netflix has not yet released a trailer for the upcoming drama, however the streamer shared a few first-look images of Ozark’s Julia Garner as Anna Delvey and Veep star Anna Chlumsky as journalist Vivian.
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Inventing Anna cast
Netflix announced last year that con-artist Anna Delvey will be played by Julia Garner, who is best known as Ruth Langmore in Ozark and for her roles in The Americans, Maniac and The Assistant.
Acting opposite her will be Anna Chlumsky, who plays journalist Vivian (most likely loosely based off of Jessica Pressler). Chlumsky began her career as a child actress, starring in 1991’s My Girl and has since starred in HBO’s Veep.
Julia Garner & @AnnaChlumsky will star in Inventing Anna, a 10-episode limited series and created by @shondarhimes & @BeersBetsy about con artist Anna Delvey (Garner) and the reporter (Chlumsky) determined to get her story. pic.twitter.com/C6s3wtaR7U
— Queue (@netflixqueue) October 31, 2019
Inventing Anna also features Orange is the New Black’s Laverne Cox who plays celebrity trainer and life coach Kacy Duke, while Scandal’s Katie Lowes plays Rachel – a woman whose friendship with Anna “destroys her job, her credit and her life”.
The Bold Type actress Alexis Floyd will portray Neff, an aspiring filmmaker and hotel concierge who befriends Delvey, a new guest at the hotel.
Anders Holm (Workaholics, Champions), Arian Moayed (Succession), Anna Deavere Smith (The West Wing), Terry Kinney (Barry) and Jennifer Esposito (Taxi, NCIS) are also set to appear in the drama.
Is Inventing Anna based on a true story?
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Inventing Anna is based on the true story of Anna Sorokin, a Russian-born fraudster who took on the identity of a fictitious wealth German heiress and was eventually convicted of multiple counts of attempted grand larceny, theft of services and larceny in 2019.
After moving to New York City in 2013, Sorokin began posing as Anna Delvey and told new friends and acquaintances that she was the beneficiary of a €60 million (£46 million) trust fund which was tied up overseas, but would cover her holiday trips and lifestyle. She would then ask her friends to pay for her, making excuses about leaving her wallet in her suitcase or saying her card had been declined and promising to pay them back.
According to court documents, she would present forged bank statements and deposit faulty cheques, withdrawing the money before they bounced.
She was eventually arrested in 2017 and two years later, a judge sentenced her to 4-12 years in prison for defrauding restaurants, private jet companies, banks and hotels out of over $200,000 (£156,000).
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