Anna Sorokin/Delvey has one of the most fascinating stories I’ve ever heard. A fake, German heiress who scammed world famous banks, hedge funds, and hotels, all the while having nothing to her name but her word and powers of persuasion. You know what’s better than that? Julia Gardner’s version of Anna.
The real Anna Sorokin/Delvey is as manipulative, scheming, cunning, ruthless, and persuasive as Julia Gardner portrays her to be. There are not many people in the world who can claim to be so persuasive and convincing that they can scam uber wealthy hotels, such as NYC’s Mercer and 11 Howard, out of paying a $30,000 bill.
Or swindling hedge funds, like Fortress, to finance a multi-million-dollar art foundation.
Yes, Anna Delvey really wanted to launch her own ART FOUNDATION with nothing but lies and scams. I can’t think of anyone more outrageously arrogant, clever, and just downright hilarious (in her own, scamy way).
Nevertheless, what makes Anna truly dangerous and fascinating is her ruthlessness. She easily scammed dozens of innocent employees at the hotels she stayed, befriending them so they would postpone her rent payments. In some instances, these people were even forced to pick up her grossly expensive dinning bills.
The worst case of this is that of Rachel Williams.
Rachel Williams, a former writer and photographer for Vogue Magazine, was Anna’s “closest” friend during Sorokin’s scamming heyday. The fake German heiress would take Williams on expensive cruises, dinners, hotels, restaurants, parties, etc., tricking Williams into believing she had millions of dollars to waste.
They had a great friendship going and the two of them planned a luxurious vacation to the VERY FANCY La Mamounia hotel in Morocco.
But this blossoming friendship took a drastic nosedive when Delvey was eventually found out by the hotel staff that she was a scammer, and they forced her to pay for every expense immediately.
As Delvey had done before in such circumstances, she fled. Thus, this left Willams to pick up the insane $70,000 tab, causing her to nearly go broke.
Clearly, Anna had no problems with financially ruining her friends when it suited her.
However, the one thing the real Anna Delvey lacks is the charm that Julia Gardner naturally eludes. She is a fantastic actress, and this might be her greatest role to date. She not only masterfully portrays Delvey’s manipulative, scheming side, but also a kind, scared, and vulnerable aspect of her that I’m not entirely sure really exists.
(Netflix: Inventing Anna-Life Of A VIP)
Still, Gardner’s acting and presence on screen is so empathetic and sympathetic that I can’t help but feel bad for Inventing Anna’s Anna Delvey.
The scene in which Vivian (the portrayal of Jessica Pressler, the author of the New York Times article that Inventing Anna is based on) is consoling a visibly shaken Anna as the two of them are saying their final goodbye before Delvey heads back to prison is what sold me on this being an Emmy-award winning performance from Julia Gardner.
Now, the show itself definitely has some flaws, ex: too long, filler moments, strange/slightly cringy dialogue at times, etc. Nonetheless, I would definitely give the show a respectable 7.5/10.
As for Julia Gardner, her performance easily deserves a 10/10. She was just that good.
Hopefully, Julia Gardner gets a well-deserved Emmy nomination (if she hasn’t already) for Inventing Anna. She has more than earned it!
Oh, if you want to read more about some of the real Anna Sorkin’s victims, I linked a few articles below that gave me some of the information about these people.
Images Source: Featured Image (Netflix) (Inventing Anna-Official Trailer)
In Text Image 1: (Netflix) (Inventing Anna)
Other Sources: (The Sun) (I’m pals with Anna Delvey – I worked at hotel she scammed out of $30K and had to pick up bar bills when cards declined | The Sun)
(CBS News) (Rachel Deloache Williams on believing con artist Anna Sorokin: “She was very cavalier with her spending” – CBS News)
(Yahoo Finance) (Rachel DeLoache Williams Was Conned Out Of $62,000—Here’s How She’s Doing Now (yahoo.com)
