Shonda Rhimes’s newest Netflix movie, inventing Anna, begins with a humorous disclaimer: “This whole narrative is factual.” Except for the entirely fictional portions. This has piqued the interest of viewers even more. After Anna Delvey, the show’s main character, audiences are now interested in Vivian Kent. Did she exist and, beyond all odds, write a feature?
In Inventing Anna, Jessica Pressler Plays The Actual Vivian Kent
Jessica Pressler, a journalist with a ten-year body of work, is the inspiration for the character. Jessica, a native of Massachusetts, has contributed to Elle, New York Magazine, and GQ, among other magazines.
Jessica has a flair for creating intriguing storylines that would be excellent for a television program or film. For example, she was the one who wrote for New York Magazine about a gang of exotic dancers that scammed wealthy guys. Jennifer Lopez’s film The Hustler was loosely based on her feature story.
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Jessica Pressler, the real-life basis for Vivian Kent’s character, is from Massachusetts and has a BA in English from Temple University. She freelanced for various publications and wrote for Philadelphia magazine and Philadelphia Weekly before going to New York City and working as a contributing editor for New York magazine for nearly a decade.
Pressler is also recognized for penning “The Hustlers At Scores,” an accurate tale that inspired the 2019 film Hustlers (via The Cut). Pressler presently works for Vanity Fair as a special reporter. It’s not the first time a figure based on Pressler has been shown in cinema. Julia Stiles as Elizabeth, an investigative journalist, in the film Hustlers.
Elizabeth interviews Destiny (Constance Wu) throughout Hustlers to learn more about the ladies participating in the Moves nightclub hustling scheme. In an interview with Katie Couric, Pressler said that she had little participation in the film but did provide some remarks to director Lorene Scafaria. Julia Stiles also paid her a visit to learn about her reporting process, and she adapted parts of her characteristics into the character of Elizabeth.
In Inventing Anna, Pressler was more active behind the scenes. She was acknowledged as a producer and provided the writing team with feedback. Although Inventing Anna isn’t always factual, Pressler has said (through Shondaland) that some events did occur, such as struggling to have her article concept accepted. On the other hand, the specifics are inevitably exaggerated, as is customary for a television program that relies on excitement and drama to keep viewers interested. Pressler also notes in the Shondaland interview that Vivian’s character is more combative than she is in real life but that “the confrontational attitude is simply for television.”
Is “Inventing Anna’s” Vivian Kent Based On A Natural Person?
While Vivian Kent, Anna Chlumsky’s character, does not exist in real life, she is a fictionalized version of Jessica Pressler, a real-world New York Magazine writer.
The narrative for the series was inspired by Pressler’s investigative piece “How Anna Delvey Fooled New York’s Party People,” published in 2018. Pressler began examining Sorokin shortly after she made news in media like the New York Post for missing out on her extravagant hotel bills in 2017. She is also recognized for other works, including the 2015 essay “The Hustlers at Scores,” adapted into the 2019 film “Hustlers.”
Pressler is quite active on social media and often praises “Inventing Anna.” The official trailer for the series is posted to her Twitter profile with the description, “The ‘Inventing Anna’ trailer is now available in its entirety! It is fantastic. 11th of February!”
Here Are Things We Can Tell You About Jessica Pressler:
- Jessica Pressler works at New York Magazine as a staff writer. She was the former editor of Intelligencer, the magazine’s news blog.
- Pressler has also written to GQ and Elle, among other publications.
- Her work has also appeared in numerous editions in the Columbia Journalism School’s Best Business Writings collection.
- The journalist is from Marblehead, Massachusetts, and presently resides in the Queens neighborhood of New York City.
- Pressler formerly worked for Philadelphia Magazine and Philadelphia Weekly as a staff writer.
- She earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.