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James Franco: ‘I Don’t Watch Porn’ Anymore (Exclusive)

Say what? James Franco stars in the upcoming HBO drama The Deuce, which chronicles the rise of the porn industry in New York City in the 1970s. However, the actor claims he doesn’t watch adult films in real life anymore.

“I don’t know if you believe me or not. I watched it in my day. I certainly watched it as research for this show. [But] I don’t watch porn,” Franco, 39, exclusively told Us Weekly at the show’s premiere at SVA Theater in NYC on Thursday, September 7.

James Franco attends 'The Deuce' premiere at SVA Theater in New York City on September 7, 2017.
James Franco attends ‘The Deuce’ premiere at SVA Theater in New York City on September 7, 2017.

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“I have no moralistic stand against it by any means, but in unregulated capitalism, I think that’s one of the main points of our show,” he continued. “There’s always these people, a select few who sort of come out on top and the rest are just thrown under the bus.”

The Oscar nominee plays twin brothers Vincent and Frankie Martino in The Deuce, which also stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gbenga Akinnagbe and Gary Carr. The pilot of the eight-episode first season premiered early on HBO Go and HBO Now in late August.

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“My friend Rashida Jones came out with a documentary called Hot Girls Wanted a couple of years ago and I think the main point I took away from that film is that these young women [in porn] are not protected. They have union. It’s just completely unregulated,” Franco told Us of the moment his view on pornography changed. “They go out to Florida and they’re just sort of ground up in a matter of months and just discarded, and nobody is there to protect them. There’s no laws to protect them and that is very much the case in our show as well.”

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Gyllenhaal, for her part, had some reservations about taking on the role. “I asked for a producing credit after they asked me to do it because only three of the eight scripts were written and I was being asked to play a sex worker in 2017, which I think is a very delicate thing,” the actress, 39, exclusively told Us. “As much as I really wanted to do it and I wished I could just say yes, I knew I had to have some kind of guarantee that I would be a collaborator, that I would be a part of the storytelling and a part of what the piece ultimately says.”

The Deuce premieres on HBO on Sunday, September 10, at 9 p.m. ET.

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