Apart from Anna Delvey, the one character that makes a strong impression on us in Inventing Anna is Vivian Kent. The journalist brings to light Anna’s story. She fights for her story with her editor-in-chief and goes out of her way to get what she wants! Her efforts paid off and she revived her career. But did you know that the tenacious character was almost not going to feature on the show? 

Vivian Kent is the guiding light in Anna Delvey’s story 

As soon as Shonda Rhimes read Jessica Pressler’s article in the New York Magazine: How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People, she knew she had a show. Shonda emailed her right away, but Jessica was too busy with her baby to check her inbox. Eventually, when she got around to checking her email, she recalled that the initial pitch had no Vivian Kent in it. “It was definitely not a part of the initial pitch,” she said. 

A fictionalized version of Jessica Pressler was added after a year into production. And that’s how Vivian Kent, played by Anna Chlumsky, was born. 

“It was not a thing that I wanted, but I understand the impulse of why they wanted to do it,” she said. Pressler added that the creators realized that they needed a tour guide to navigate the Soho-grifter’s world. 

Although inspired by Jessica, Vivian is an “all caps Email” version of Jessica. Both Shonda and Anna took the liberty to change the personality of the character in Inventing Anna.

Jessica played a part in the production of Inventing Anna 

She may not have been an active part of it, but Shonda wouldn’t have a show without Pressler’s feature article. Other than that, Shonda was not familiar with how Rikers worked. The two exchanged too many emails, in which Jessica dumped too much info on to the production team.

Ever since it hit the platform, Inventing Anna is now the most-watched English language show on the streamer. The show chronicles the famous story of Anna Delvey and her numerous crimes. She had single-handedly manipulated and conned elites out of their money. Julia Garner delivers one of her best performances to date as the conniving fake German heiress.

Have you streamed the show on Netflix yet? How different do you think the show might have been if Vivian Kent’s character was not in it? Share your thoughts in the comments below.