NEW YORK 鈥� You don鈥檛 have to look far to find a New Yorker who beefs about what 42nd Street has become.
That stretch between Eighth Avenue and Broadway just off Times Square: It鈥檚 now a frothy family friendly cauldron of theatres, eateries and other tourist draws that many natives denounce as 鈥淒isneyfied.鈥�
By any description, it鈥檚 a stunning transformation from the urban slag of peep shows, gin mills and massage parlours known as 鈥渢he Deuce鈥� back in 1971 鈥� the time and place in which a magnificent new HBO drama series, The Deuce, is immersed. (Its eight-episode season premieres Sunday at 9 p.m.)
For devotees of The Wire and Treme, nothing more need be said about The Deuce than it was co-created by David Simon and George Pelecanos, who can lay claim to those extraordinary dramas. Pelecanos鈥� shorthand for his new series: 鈥渢he rise and fall of Times Square.鈥�
This first season tracks the rise of the flesh trade from what was then called 鈥渟mut鈥� to today鈥檚 billion-dollar industry whose wares are just a cellphone call away. From its first scenes, The Deuce gets under your skin.
As on The Wire (set in Baltimore) and Treme (New Orleans), this new series populates its chosen world with a rich spectrum of characters, ranging from pimps and prostitutes and drug dealers to mobsters and dirty cops and even a New York University dropout-turned-barmaid.
Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a defiantly entrepreneurial hooker who sees adult films as her ticket to success and James Franco tackles twin roles as identical twins: Vincent, a high-minded bar owner who fronts for the mob, and Frankie, a trouble-courting cad.
The denizens of the Deuce trace intertwined narratives that unspool in matter-of-fact yet lyrical fashion, all set against an exactingly re-created Big Apple of nearly a half-century ago.
Perhaps no one is more knocked out by this production-design wizardry than Franco.
鈥淵ou watch all the old [Martin] Scorsese and Sidney Lumet films that I love from that era, and all they had to do was put their cameras where they wanted and it was fine,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut not only did we have to set up all the shots, we also had to make up everything you see in the frame.鈥�
On top of that were his dual roles, which include scenes where, with cinematic fluency, he interacts with himself in the same frame. It鈥檚 no small trick.
鈥淚 go in usually as Vincent first,鈥� explains Franco, 鈥渏ust because of the way the makeup and the hair worked, even though I would have rather done Frankie first, since he鈥檚 the more extroverted one. And then I鈥檇 do Frankie. And each time, the actor playing opposite me鈥� 鈥� a place-holder in the two-shot 鈥� 鈥渨ould remember what I did with the other brother from when we rehearsed, so he could do it himself.鈥�
All that, plus in two of the episodes, Franco is also directing himself.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a real case of compartmentalizing,鈥� he says.
By phone, Pelecanos noted that on-screen twins played by a single actor are usually each given distinctive grooming or garb. Not here, apart from a helpful cut on Vincent鈥檚 forehead in the earlier episodes that help viewers get accustomed to telling the two characters apart.
鈥淲e kept them very similar in the way they look,鈥� Pelecanos said. 鈥淲hat Franco did to differentiate the characters was all acting. Not just line delivery, but his posture, the way he walked 鈥� that was all him. What he did with the twins was really great.鈥�
Vincent and Frankie are based on real-life twins, with the bar that 鈥淰incent鈥� actually ran in the early 鈥�70s a well-known hangout for all types of people.
鈥淕ays, straights, prostitutes, pimps, cops, porn actors 鈥� everybody was welcome,鈥� Pelecanos said. 鈥淭hat was real attractive to us dramatically.鈥�
But the series鈥� central theme 鈥� an explosion in the sex trade as obscenity laws began to fall away 鈥� was much more difficult to dramatize.
鈥淭his is a tough show to do without being exploitative,鈥� Pelecanos said. 鈥淎nd if, in the end, we have done that, we鈥檙e guilty of the thing we鈥檙e presenting. But hopefully, we hit the mark. If you look at the scenes where they鈥檙e making porn, it鈥檚 not sexy at all.鈥� (As evidence, look no further than Episode Two鈥檚 potato soup.)
Future seasons of 鈥淭he Deuce鈥� will follow the porn boom, the sexual revolution and, all too soon, the scourge of AIDS. By the mid-鈥�80s, the ease and economy of video production would spell the end of back-room porn films. Then the porn industry moved out West. By the 1990s, on the eve of Time Square鈥檚 cloying renaissance, 42nd Street had been left to rot.
With that much story left to tell, Franco is itching to get a green light for Season 2.
鈥淚 remember walking around New York last summer when we were filming the first season and just thinking, This is the dream! The best writers in television. An incredible cast. And not only one great role, but TWO great roles.鈥�
He flashes a smile as only James Franco can.
鈥淭his is as good as it gets!鈥�
