My Inner Voice is a Fake German Heiress: I Can’t Get Anna Delvey Out of My Head

I’m going to take advantage of it for as long as it lasts

My inner voice now sounds like Anna Delvey’s.

Or at least like Julia Garner’s when she’s playing Anna Delvey in Inventing Anna.

Here’s how it started.

The drama miniseries produced by Shonda Rhimes dropped on Netflix in February and started trending quickly.

According to IMDB,

“In Inventing Anna, a journalist with a lot to prove investigates the case of Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary German heiress who stole the hearts of New York’s social scene and stole their money as well.

But is Anna New York’s biggest con woman or is she simply the new portrait of the American dream? Anna and the reporter form a dark funny love-hate bond as Anna awaits trial and our reporter fights the clock to answer the biggest question in NYC: who is Anna Delvey?

The series is inspired by the New York Magazine article “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People” by Jessica Pressler, who also serves as a producer.”

The series is met with mixed reviews, some viewers finding the characters unlikeable and the story too soapy.

For those who want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, the caveat at the beginning of each episode, “This whole story is completely true. Except for all the parts that are totally made up,” doesn’t cut it.

My husband had enough after the first episode, walking out of the room as the second loaded. I watched two more episodes in the first sitting before deciding to dedicate my morning treadmill time to complete the series.

A work week’s worth of walking later and I wrapped the show entertained and wanting to know more.

When I watch TV shows based on real-life events, I feel compelled to conduct research and compare notes between reality and fiction. The show has produced a resurgence of interest in Delvey, aka Anna Sorokin, and finding out about her only takes a few clicks to find a podcast, an article, books, Anna’s Instagram, or better yet Anna’s courtroom fashions Instagram account.

If you’re interested, Emily Palmer covers the truth and the not-so-truth in her New York Times article:

The fashion, the drama, the crime. It’s all entertaining but not necessarily memorable in the grand scheme of loads of information entering my brain and sticking.

Except for her accent.

According to Emily Palmer in the Times article,

“Sorokin’s virtually untraceable accent is among her most distinguishing features. Born in a town 20 minutes outside Moscow, she moved to Germany when she was 15 but struck out on her own at 19, flitting from Paris to New York. Her accent is a mélange of influences, from everywhere and nowhere at once.”

I listened to a podcast interview with Delvey and her voice is indeed a mix of accents. In Inventing Anna, Julia Garner nails it.

It’s Eastern Europe meets Kardashian. It’s a little bit of everyone but also sounds like no one else. It’s Wall Street confidence meets teen vocal fry. It is intriguing and deeply annoying at the same time.

Check out this video (at about 4:30) from The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon for Garner’s breakdown on developing the accent.

I’m addicted to it.

So much so that I hear my own thoughts filtered with a Delvey accent.

When I’m picking out my clothes in the morning, I hear fictional Anna’s voice instead of my own. When mapping out a tough conversation with a colleague at work, you guessed it — it’s Delvey’s too cool for school European meets the American valley girl — finding the language to kill it with poise and preparation.

My inner voice is a German heiress with a twist of Russian and American influencer. She’s confident and condescending, glamorous and mysterious all at once. When I speak to myself like Anna, I am, too.

My inner voice wears designer sunglasses and haute couture. Her hair is perfectly coiffed, her legs are crossed casually and she cradles the finest champagne in her hand.

Anna Delvey has boosted my confidence. Julia Garner has given my inner voice a new attitude.

It’s a refreshing change from my usual middle-class, middle-aged full of doubt and exhaustion voice that clogs my mind most days.

With all the media I consume, it’s likely that another character, real or invented, may flood my future thoughts. For now, I’m channeling the German heiress and taking advantage of it for as long as it lasts.

Copyright Melissa Marietta

If you like reading about Anna Delvey, check out this article from Mercedes O'Leary.