Part of what makes HBO’s The Deuce a great television show is certainly the partnership of former journalist and current TV auteur David Simon and novelists George Pelecanos and Richard Price, who also memorably worked together on HBO’s The Wire. But the other piece that makes it great is the deep involvement of women, without whom Simon knew he couldn’t produce the authentic show he sought.

“This could not be the boys’ version of sex work or pornography,” Simon told the LA Times. “That would have been not only disastrous strategically, but wrong ethically.”

A panel of those women appeared late Thursday at the New York Television Festival and discussed their approach to what’s simultaneously a very physical but very intellectual series.

Taking a page from the past, where an original concept is the recipe for success for a series on HBO, The Deuce, set in 1971, features James Franco (in a dual role) and Maggie Gyllenhaal in this tale of the rise of the porn industry in Times Square, New York. Drawing its title from a nickname for New York’s 42nd Street at the height of the era of prostitutes, pimps, peepshows and drug dealers that frequented it, The Deuce from David Simon and George Pelecanos concludes its first season this Sunday.

“This show is about sex workers, but it is also about markets and capitalism. It’s about following the money. And it’s about a certain time which doesn’t exist anymore,” said executive producer Nina Kostoff-Noble. “It was a time that was maybe more innocent in some ways.”

“It always starts with the script and this was such an honest and authentic betrayal of that time,” said Gyllenhaal. “What is really important to me is the authentic detail when you are betraying a true story and David Simon is probably more detail-oriented than any director I have ever worked with. We all set out to be very honest with this story.”

Featured alongside Gyllenhaal and Kostoff-Noble on the panel were executive producer and director Michelle MacLaren and Kathleen McCaffey, senior vice president, HBO programming.

Researching Porn’s Origins

“I had certain preconceptions and understanding and the thing that surprised me was when we spoke to several different porn stars from that era and they were very proud of what they created and what they did,” said MacLaren, who’s also directed episodes of shows such as Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. “It doesn’t mean they all had positive outcomes but the ones that we talked to were very proud of this industry they created and that changed my thinking of what they had done, how they approached it and what they accomplished.”

“Whoever takes my computer, I feel like I am the one person at HBO who can get away with it,” joked HBO’s Kathleen McCaffey, who did her own research on the early days of pornography. “As an executive, I always related to the girls on the show. They’re working women and they are up against the same struggles, different day to day tasks, but ultimately doing what you need to do to get by.”

Keeping ‘The Deuce’ Authentic

“One thing we did that I think people are responding to now is trying to use real bodies and a variety of different people,” said Kostoff-Noble. “Equal opportunity sex, I guess you can call it. We did some research and we noticed people were smaller then. People were not going to the gym then. There weren’t too many breast implants.”

“At the casting process at the very beginning, David and George and Nina and I made sure that every actor who was cast understood what we were looking for in the entire series because we did want them to be surprised where their character was going,” said McLaren. “They knew exactly what was expected of them in certain scenes and if they were not comfortable with that then the decision was made either not to do that or maybe it was not the right show for them.”

Gyllenhaal, who has her share of racy moments on The Deuce as sex worker Candy has one comical memory of an unexpected non-clothed moment.

“We did this scene in episode one where I lean over this car and I did not know that my entire ass was exposed. Michelle came over and said she wanted to show me the playback and that was weird because usually directors don’t do that. And I went over and watched it and I was like…Oh…and as we were walking she said, ‘your ass looks amazing.’”

“If a man said that to me it would not be okay, but it was really actually nice,” she laughed. “Somehow that double-standard was great.”

Just days after its premiere in September, HBO greenlit The Deuce for a second season

“For me, what has changed is the way these guys have approached this material, which is totally non-judgmental all the way through,” said Gyllenhaal. “So now when I think about it there is no judgment. Sometimes it is going to be great and sometimes it is going to be awful and disgusting.”

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