THE DEUCE IS WILD!
James Franco goes all-in as a pair of twins on his new HBO series about the birth of the porn
industry. EW travels back to the 1970s for a groovy sneak peek.BY KEVIN P. SULLIVAN
On a Brooklyn
soundstage made
to look like your
uncle’s favorite dive
bar, James Franco is
slinging Schlitz as
Vincent, a hard-
scrabble bartender
in ’70s New York City.
Across from him sits
Will Seefried, a New
York University grad
student. He’s stand-
ing in as Frankie,
Vincent’s ne’er-do-
well twin and Franco’s
other role on HBO’s
The Deuce. Debuting
this summer, the
new series from
David Simon and
George Pelecanos
(The Wire,Treme)examines life in
Times Square before
M&M’s World and
those overaggressive
Elmos invaded, when
porn was a burgeon-
ing business—and an
attractive one to peo-
ple like Franco’s mus-
tachioed alter egos.
If this whole thing
is beginning to
sound like another
“Franco being
Franco” joke, it’s
worth mentioning
that the 38-year-old
also directs this
particular episode
(and two others).
“That turned out to
be the episode
with the most twin
scenes in the whole
season,” Franco
says months later.
“Now that I lookback, I do think it
was pretty crazy.”
Frankie and
Vincent are just
two pieces in a vast
ensemble that
includes mobsters,
pimps, and in the
case of Maggie
Gyllenhaal’s Candy,
prostitutes. “The
stereotypes and
ideas we have about
prostitutes and
people who work in
porn are too vague,”
Gyllenhaal says. “I
hope that this show,
in a way, shines a
bright enough light
on a group of peo-
ple who haven’t had
one shone on them.”
If nothing else,The
Deuceis an appealing
happy-hour deal: two-
for-one on Francos.CHARO
CHA-CHAS
ONTODWTS
The feisty 75-year-old
will be among the celebs
vying for a Mirror Ball
Trophy come March 20.
BY LYNETTE RICEGird your loins, Mr. T and
Chris Kattan. The men com-
peting on the upcoming
24th season ofDancing
With the Starswill face stiff
competition from a highly
qualified field of females—
many of whom boast
oodles of dance experi-
ence. In addition toGlee
alum Heather Morris,
Real Housewife (and pop
star) Erika Jayne, and
Fifth Harmony’s Normani
Kordei, gold-medal gym-
nast Simone Biles and
silver-medal figure skater
Nancy Kerrigan will don
the Danskins when the ABC
competition series returns
March 20. And despite
hip-shaking moves of her
own, even ’70s entertainer
Charo admits to being a bit
nervous. “I want to make it
very clear,” she says. “I run
three miles a day because
I love to eat pizza and
chocolate. But I don’t do
acrobatics. I haven’t been
in the Olympics. This is
going to be a challenge.”
Don’t worry, Charo:
We’re sure pro bull rider
Bonner Bolton, NFL running
back Rashad Jennings,
former MLB catcher David
Ross, andThe Bachelor’s
Nick Viall have much more
t y18 EW.COM MARCH 10, 2017
Nick Viall have much more
to worryabout!CUCHI-CUCHI!FIRST
LOOK
James
Franco
and
James
FrancoMaggie GyllenhaalTHE DEUCE: PAUL SCHIRALDI/HBO (2); CHARO: GABRIEL OLSEN/FILMMAGIC