If you’ve been watching Inventing Anna on Netflix, you’ve probably noticed several familiar faces.
For one thing, Vivian Kent — the journalist who is trying to piece together the twists and turns of Anna Sorokin/Delvey’s story — is played by Anna Chlumsky, who burrowed her way into our hearts as Vada in My Girl. She has also appeared in shows such as Veep and Hannibal.
Then, of course, there’s Julia Garner who plays the infamous Anna. You know and love Garner from Ozark, which recently dropped its fourth and final season on Netflix and for which she has won two Emmys for Best Supporting Actress. Garner has previously revealed that when she visited Sorokin in prison, the scammer wanted to hear what the actress had planned in terms of her accent, even begging to hear it (Delvey was born in Russia, grew up in Germany, learned British English, then mimicked American English by watching shows like Gossip Girl.)
If you’re a keen Shonda Rhimes disciple, you will have also noticed that many of the actors in Inventing Anna have also had roles in Shondaland series’ such as Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. Katie Lowes (Rachel), Kate Burton (Nora) and Jeff Perry (Lou) are just a few of the performers who spring to mind here.
However, as a diehard Succession fan I, personally, couldn’t help but notice the actors who I had previously seen on that series, popping up in this one. Allow me to illustrate.
Arian Moayed
In Inventing Anna, Arian Moayed plays Todd Spodek, Anna’s attorney who is hoping that by taking on her case, he can finally make a real name for himself and start feeling more like he belongs in the world he inhabits (his wife is super-rich).
In Succession, Moayed plays Stewy Hosseini, Kendall Roy’s mate-turned-nemesis-turned-mate-again, maybe, we think? Stewy, of course, is a private equity investor and one of the many people keen to see Logan Roy ousted from WaystarRoyco and is happy to work either with or against Kendall to make that happen.
Saamer Usmani
Saamer Usmani takes on the part of Chase Sikorski, Anna Delvey’s futurist boyfriend who might just be as much of a scammer as she is.
However, you may recall that in the Succession episode ‘Hunting’, Usmani played Chris — a handsome actor in Willa’s terrible play who shares a no-strings-attached night of fun with Shiv, who has told Tom she wants to explore an open marriage. Usmani also appears briefly in the episode ‘Dundee’ where his deliberate brushing up against Shiv causes Tom to suspect they may have hooked up.
Caitlin FitzGerald
FitzGerald plays Mags Spodek in Inventing Anna — Todd’s insanely wealthy wife and mother of his two children, who seems very sweet and normal despite her massive family fortune.
In Succession, however, FitzGerald takes on one of the more questionable storylines and plays Tabitha — the woman who performs oral sex on Tom at his bachelor party and then spits his ejaculate back into his mouth … and then later starts dating Roman. So erm, yes, there was that.
Inventing Anna is now streaming on Netflix.
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