Starring Julia Garner, the Netflix series charts the rise and fall of the fake German heiress who deceived Manhattan’s wealthy elite
The first full trailer for the Netflix scammer saga Inventing Anna has finally arrived. Created by Shonda Rhimes, the series tells the tall tale of fake heiress (and legendary con-artist) Anna Delvey, who was officially convicted of fraud in 2019 after tricking her way into the upper echelons of Manhattan’s social elite.
The new preview shows Julia Garner (of Ozark) step into the shoes of Delvey, taking on her notoriously ambiguous accent to sweet-talk hotels, banks, and her socialite peers out of extortionate amounts of money.
In case you somehow missed the story the first time around, Anna Delvey posed as a glamorous German heiress from 2013 to 2017, scamming more than $200,000 (£145k) from banks and luxury hotels. The real story — that Delvey, real name Anna Sorokin, was the daughter of a Russian truck driver — was eventually exposed in a 2018 New York Times article.
The nine-episode limited series is based on the article by Jessica Pressler, but also devotes a chunk of screentime to her courtroom looks, which saw her branded a ‘fashion antihero’.
Alongside Garner, Anna Chlumsky stars as a journalist on a mission to uncover the truth about Delvey, while Laverne Cox and Katie Lowes play members of her social circle (including the friend who she left to foot the $62,000 bill for a now-notorious trip to Marrakech).
Speaking about taking on the role of Anna Delvey in 2020, Garner herself seemed pretty charmed. “She’s actually hysterical,” she said. “And she’s super soft-spoken and gentle. Going into any part, you can’t have too many negative thoughts because you don’t want to start with the character judging them.”
“You can’t dislike the person you’re playing for eight, nine months. That’s going to come across on the screen, and the performance isn’t going to be as good. She had her reasons why she did all the things she did.”
Watch the trailer for Inventing Anna below. The full series will premiere via Netflix on February 11.