Is Talia Mallay a Real Person in 'Inventing Anna'?

Inventing Anna on Netflix tells the mind-blowing true story of convicted fraudster Anna Sorokin (played by Julia Garner). Going by the name Anna Delvey, Sorokin was able to convince New York's social elite, businesses and banks she was a German heiress, with a trust fund of $60 million and to defraud them out of thousands of dollars.

In 2019, Delvey was found guilty of multiple counts of attempted grand larceny, larceny in the second degree, and theft of services and she served two years in prison.

Across nine episodes, Inventing Anna tells Delvey's story from her perspective and through the eyes of journalist Vivian Kent (Anna Chlumsky). Many of the people in the show are based on real people and some characters have even stuck to their real names, such as Delvey's best friend Neff (played by Alexis Floyd) and her lawyer Todd Spodek (Arian Moayed).

Is Anna's famous friend Talia Mallay a real person? Newsweek has everything you need to know.

Is Talia Mallay a Real Person?

Interestingly, Talia Mallay is one of the few characters in Inventing Anna who isn't based on a real person.

The Netflix series draws heavily on Jessica Pressler's 2018 New York magazine article "How Anna Delvey Fooled New York's Party People," and there is no mention of Talia Mallay or an art collector. Perhaps Pressler did meet someone very similar to Talia Mallay who wanted to remain anonymous, or on the other hand, the character was created to represent the wealthy people Delvey associated herself with.

Cheat Sheet suspects Mallay is based on Jayma Cardoso, the owner and creator of Surf Lodge and the Snow Lodge Aspen, after a quick scroll through its Instagram pages. One picture on Delvey's account shows Delvey tagging Cardoso in the caption of a photo of a woman on a yacht in Ibiza on September 1, 2014.

Newsweek has reached out to Cardoso for comment.

In Inventing Anna, Mallay is a socialite, lifestyle guru and art collector who Delvey befriends at an exhibition, and as Mallay tells journalist Vivian Kent, the two became inseparable.

At the exhibition, Mallay eventually purchases Cindy Sherman's "Untitled Film Still #17", after being swayed by Delvey's impressive knowledge of the image. Inventing Anna fans may be interested to know that the image itself is a real piece of art.

The photograph is part of a series showing Sherman in 1978 posing as various women from big Hollywood movies.

In Inventing Anna, Mallay recalls how their friendship became sour after a trip to Ibiza and they ultimately never spoke again.

With her boyfriend, Chase, Delvey deliberately took a trip to Ibiza so Chase could meet one of Mallay's friends, an investor with whom Chase was eager to secure a deal in relation to his app, Wake.

Despite the awkward business conversations and Delvey's intervention as seen in Inventing Anna, it looked like the trip appeared to be going well, right until the moment Mallay and her friends returned to New York.

Back in the U.S., Mallay learned Delvey and Chase had decided to stay on the luxury yacht, which belonged to one of her friends. The pair had a huge falling out on the phone after Delvey took the yacht without consent, racking up a bill into the hundreds, if not thousands. And, of course, Delvey never paid up.

Whether the Ibiza-yacht incident actually happened in real life remains unknown for now.

Who Plays Talia Mallay in Inventing Anna?

Polish-American actress Marika Domińczyk stars as Talia Mallay in Inventing Anna.

You may recognize Domińczyk as Dr. Eliza Minnick in Grey's Anatomy or as Lorena Massey in Hawaii Five-o.

Domińczyk is also well known for her role as Tyler Altamirano in Brothers & Sisters and as Anna the Nanny in The Help.

In 2007, Mallay married actor Scott Foley. Together they have three children, Malina Jean, Keller Aleksander and Konrad.

She is also the older sister of The Lost Daughter and Succession star Dagmara Dominczyk.

Inventing Anna is streaming on Netflix now.