Maggie Gyllenhaal to play prostitute in 'The Deuce'

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Maggie Gyllenhaal has joined the cast of new HBO pilot The Deuce.

The 37-year-old actress will portray Eileen Merrell, aka Candy, a prostitute drawn to the burgeoning porn industry in 1970s New York. Gyllenhaal will also produce the series, which follows the legalization and rise of the industry until AIDS and cocaine-related violence brought it to a halt.

James Franco was previously confirmed to play a dual role of twin mobsters controlling the Times Square scene. The project hails from The Wire creator David Simon, with Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad helmer Michelle MacLaren as director.

"We're interested in what it means when profit is the primary metric for what we call society," Simon said in August. "In that sense, this story is intended as neither prurient nor puritan. It's about a product, and those human beings who created, sold, profited from and suffered from that product."

"Porn, prostitution, pimps, the mob, after-hours nightlife, institutional corruption and New York in its Wild West heyday," writer George Pelecanos added. "It's a world rich in character, and a fascinating story we're eager to tell."

Gyllenhaal last appeared in The Honourable Woman, and earned a Golden Globe award for her portrayal of Nessa Stein in the BBC miniseries. She is also scheduled for an adaptation of the Borge Hellstrom novel Three Seconds with Luke Evans.