James Franco Stars In New HBO Porn Drama ‘The Deuce’; Teaser Released

The official teaser for James Franco’s upcoming HBO drama, “The Deuce,” has just been released.

Set between the 1970s and 1980s, “The Deuce” will chronicle the legalization and rise of the porn industry in New York City’s famed midtown. The series will also shed light on how the porn industry suffered a drastic change when HIV, cocaine demand and real estate prices started to rise.

The 27-second teaser opens with snippets of some of the lead characters in the TV series. In one of the scenes, Franco’s Frankie Martino flirts with Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Eileen “Candy” Merrell. In another scene two guys are dealing cocaine in the dark. Frankie also gets into a fight with an unnamed character while the two of them are playing billiards.

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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in March, Franco dished on what it was like playing the role of twins in “The Deuce.” The actor will be playing siblings Frankie and Vincent, who become fronts for the Mob while operating in Times Square. According to the actor, he felt weird giving life to the two characters. “That turned out to be the episode with the most twin scenes in the whole season. Now that I look back, I do think it was pretty crazy,” he said.

Franco also directed two episodes of the series.

Gyllenhall, who plays the role of a prostitute named Candy, says that she hopes the eight-episode series will be enough to educate people about prostitution and the porn industry. “The stereotypes and ideas we have about prostitutes and people who work in porn are too vague. I hope that this show, in a way, shines a bright enough light on a group of people who haven’t had one shone on them,” she said.

Other cast members include Margarita Levieva as Abigail “Abby” Parker, Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Chris Alston, Dominique Fishback as Darlene and more. As of late, it is still unclear whether or not HBO will renew “The Deuce” for a second season.

The first season of “The Deuce” will have a total of eight episodes and will premiere on Sunday, June 4 at 9 p.m. EDT. The series is created by David Simon and George Pelecanos.