Compare the “Inventing Anna” Cast to Their Real-Life Counterparts

Anna Sorokin is the fake heiress who scammed just about everyone in her path a few years ago under the name Anna Delvey. She swindled friends and businesses out of thousands by convincing them she was some sort of posh European, but her lies eventually caught up with her. She served time for four counts of theft of services, three counts of grand larceny, and one count of attempted grand larceny.

Jessica Pressler was the author of the “New York” magazine story that bared Sorokin’s scams. Her character in “Inventing Anna” was given the name Vivian instead and works for a fictional publication. Pressler’s May 2018 story on Sorokin exposed her entire scandal and turned the fake heiress into a public figure. Pressler, who is an accomplished writer, also wrote the “New York” magazine story that eventually became the movie “Hustlers.”

Todd Spodek served as Sorokin’s lawyer while she was on trial for theft. He told Insider in 2019 that his goal was to convince the jury that Sorokin’s attempts to swindle money were too incompetent to punish her for them. The financial institutions “believed she was a German heiress, and they believed they would get a 15% interest loan,” Spodek told Insider. “They just closed their eyes and went through the process.”

Rachel DeLoache Williams is a former photo editor for “Vanity Fair.” She befriended Sorokin, who invited her on an “all-expenses-paid” trip to Morocco. Williams ended up paying more than $62,000 during the stay as Sorokin promised to reimburse her. She later went on to write a book called “My Friend Anna.”