Julia Garner has revealed that she visited Anna Delvey - the subject of upcoming Netflix drama Inventing Anna - in prison to learn more about the enigmatic character she is portraying.
The upcoming series is set to tell the stranger-than-fiction true story of the con artist, Delvey - a Russian-born fraudster who conned New York hotels and wealthy acquaintances out of thousands.
Garner - who shot to fame for her role a Ruth Langmore in Ozark - is set to play Delvey (real name Anna Sorokina) and revealed that she flew to Buffalo, US, to meet Sorokin at the nearby Albion Correctional Facility where she is serving a four to 12-year sentence for her crimes.
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Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the 26-year-old actress said" "It got super meta because she's like, 'So how are you playing me?'"
"I said, 'Well, you're very complex. Your accent's really hard.' She's like, 'Oh my God, how do you sound like me? You have to do it.' She just was freaking out."
Born in Russia, Sorokina moved to New York in 2013 and created the fake identity of Anna Delvy, a so-called wealthy German heiress sitting on a €60 million fortune.
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In the years that followed, Sorokina conned New York's social scene out of thousands, staying in trendy hotels, eating at James Beard Award-winning restaurants, and regularly visiting spas and salons with newfound friends.
Sorokina would get her new acquaintances to pay large amounts (if not all) of money towards holidays and trips they took together, claiming she'd checked her wallet with her luggage or guilting friends into paying by saying her card had been declined.
The con artist would tell them she had difficulty moving her assets overseas and would laugh off her forgetfulness when they hounded her for their money back.
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In 2019, Sorokina was convicted of multiple counts of attempted grand larceny, theft of services, and larceny in the second degree. She was sentenced for four to 12 years for her crimes.
"She might be the hardest character I've ever played," Garner told THR. "She's a genius. You can't judge your characters. I want people to understand why she did this."
The 10-part series is inspired by the New York Magazine article 'How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People' by Jessica Pressler.
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The series is created by Shonda Rhimes of Grey's Anatomy, while it is being directed by The Devil Wear's Prada's David Frankel.
Garner and the rest of the cast - who include Anna Chlumsky (Veep) as 'Vivian', Katie Lowes (Scandal) as 'Rachel', Laverne Cox (Orange Is The New Black) as Kacy Duke', Alexis Floyd (The Bold Type) as 'Neff', Arian Moayed (Succession) as 'Todd' among others - only managed to film five episodes of the series before it was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Netflix series doesn't currently have a release date but we're hoping the team can get the cameras rolling soon - this sounds SO good.
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