David Simon is the creative force behind shows like The Wire, Treme and Show Me a Hero (the latter earning protagonist Oscar Isaac a Golden Globe in 2016) – works of TV fiction to which Simon, who rose through the ranks of the Baltimore Sun as a police reporter, brings a keen journalistic sensibility for characters and place. So when a new Simon series like HBO’s The Deuce drops, it’s time to take notice. Simon co-created the show, set in the underbrush of a fledgling porn industry in 1970s New York, with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos and it stars James Franco in a dual role opposite Maggie Gyllenhaal. The HFPA’s Greet Ramaekers asked Franco to tell us about the show.