Did you feel confused, baffled, or perhaps a little intrigued when you first heard Julia Garner speak in Netflix’s viral new series, Inventing Anna? You weren’t alone.
The accent has divided viewers due to the odd, difficult-to-pin-point pronunciations made by Garner. It’s like an eclectic cocktail of European and American-isms, all mixed into one—but there’s a very good reason why the U.S. actor put it on for the series.
As it’s been pointed out by fans on Twitter, Anna Delvey, whom Garner convincingly portrays on-screen, was originally born in Russia, though she posed as a German Heiress in New York City. Thus, the real life Delvey’s accent was a hybrid of all three countries.
And as fans have since specified, Garner’s portrayal of it is pretty spot on.
“That’s EXACTLY what Anna sounded like as bizarre as it sounds!” One impressed fan Tweeted.
“If you think [Julie Garner’s] accent is unconvincing while watching Inventing Anna, just wait until you hear the real Anna Delvey’s accent,” another added.
The real Anna Delvey’s accent
The fans aren’t wrong: Delvey does have a unique accent—firstly, she was born in Russia, so a hint of the Eastern European drawl can be heard, albeit barely over the German twang she put on while pretending to be one of the country’s nationals. Finally, her accent was slightly Americanised to the tiniest degree given Delvey lived in New York City.
In itself, the accent is yet another convincing feat behind her elaborate facade which saw her swindle some of New York’s elite out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
If you want to listen to how the real life Delvey sounds, check out this interview she did on Good Morning America.
Julia Garner’s accent in Inventing Anna
After discovering exactly how Delvey sounds in real life, Julia Garner was lauded for her impression of the fake heiress. She pulls off the hybrid mix near perfectly in the series—but she had a little help to prepare for it.
Indeed, Garner actually met Delvey while she was incarcerated at a medium-security women’s prison, there, Garner later recounted how Delvey asked her to imitate her during the visit.
“So how are you going to play me, Can you do me right now?” Delvey requested of Garner.
Garner then repeated Anna’s question back to her. “So, how are you going to play me?” Garner said in an impressive imitation, which made Delvey burst into laughter.
Speaking to marie claire Australia about the moment, Garner explained: “It was very intimidating, but when I just repeated what she was saying, she thought it was so funny.
“I told Anna that it was my goal for people to see her as a person instead of a caricature. They don’t have to agree with what she did, but they should be open and willing to understand why she did it. People make mistakes and Anna is a person.”
Speaking on Jimmy Fallon, Garner added that it was the “hardest accent I’ve ever done” in her acting career.
“It was kind of one of those things where if she goes back to Europe, her European friends would be like, ‘Oh my God, you sound so American,’ and her American friends would be like ‘Oh my God you sound so European’.”
Kudos to Garner—as we’ve established, she really nailed it.
