Maggie Gyllenhaal

Set in New York City in the 1970s, The Deuce centers on the intersection of sex work, pornography, organized crime, the police, politicians and feminists. Gyllenhaal didn't have a problem with the role, but she did have strong feelings about how the power dynamics of sex should be portrayed.

Gyllenhaal plays a drug-addicted ex-convict in Sherrybaby, which will be released on DVD this month. Her other films include Secretary, World Trade Center, and Stranger than Fiction.

The eight-part drama that begins Thursday stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as a British baroness with an Israeli passport. She's a fearless actor in a show full of kidnappings, seductions and betrayals.