Let’s admit it. There’s always been a part of us that have desired for rich, fame, and success–some more than others. And a certain Anna Delvey, or rather Anna Sorokin, decided to make that desire into a reality–well…almost.

Netflix’s Inventing Anna, starring Julia Garner, is their newest hit TV series all based on the real-life case of Anna Sorokin, a fake German heiress with a dangerous ambition and ego who went for what she most wanted of the American dream: success. When I began watching it, I had never heard of such a case but I see why she was such a phenomenon. Maybe it’s the cultural fascination of criminal masterminds but I was truly intrigued by how much this 25-year-old immigrant woman was able to achieve: she duped some of the most successful people in America and lived a life of luxury without a dime to her name. How did she do it? Well, that’s what I, along with many of the watchers of the series, were curious about but this curiosity has been ongoing since the impact of the 8,000-word publication that the show is based on.

Jessica Pressler, an American journalist who works for New York Magazine was able to open an in-depth glimpse into the person, or rather, the persona who was Anna Sorokin back in 2018 through her exposé. It brought us along a journey of how Sorokin climbed to the top of the social ladder between the years of 2014-2018 to create her dream project, ADF: The Anna Delvey Foundation which was basically like SoHo House but way more luxurious and pricey through the inclusion of restaurants, art galleries, clubs, all within an incredible building at the heart of New York City. Sorokin knew, though, that she needed the dream team to make this a reality. 

She was a woman who always carried herself with finesse and never wanted anything less. That’s what made her so attractive to the people high up; she looked rich but classy who always claimed to have an inheritance of $60 million dollars from her father but wasn’t able to get it yet…or at all since it wasn’t real. 

One would think she did this all in plan to steal the most powerful people in New York City but after seeing the show, I think she truly believed her business was going to take off and she was going to be able to pay back everyone. Unfortunately her ambition, ego, and lies got the best of her and she ended up in prison.

The real life Anna Sorokin was actually released in February 2021 but she unfortunately overstayed her visa and is currently being held in ICE planned for deportation back to Germany. Although Sorokin went too far, it goes to show that when you truly want something, you can make it a reality; be ambitious, network, and your dream could come true…just without doing anything illegal because it will catch up to you.