Known for “The Leftovers,” “Money Monster,” “Nerve,” and perhaps most notably, David Simon and George Pelecanos‘ “The Deuce,” Emily Meade has been acting in film and television for nearly 12 years. Self-taught in the craft of acting, Meade was primarily a character actor until her breakout role as prostitute Lori in Simon and Pelecanos’ hit HBO show about sex as a commodity. Meade originally auditioned for the part of Candy, which went to Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Abby, which went to Margarita Levieva and ultimately didn’t have to audition for the part of Lori which she was eventually given. Essentially, Simon sat Meade down and discussed the physical demands of the part. Though initially hesitant given the subject matter, it was always a yes for Meade, it was simply a matter of processing it.

Ahead of episode five of “The Deuce” which airs this Sunday, I had a chance to chat with Meade about her role in season two, working with Simon, Pelecanos, and the cast and crew, her career, and more.

You’ve had the opportunity to act for such great writers. Damon Lindelof, Tom Perrotta, Terence Winter, and now David and George. As an actor, what stands out to you while reading a David Simon script?
What David and George are so good at is sort of depicting this huge universe. Not necessarily a character, or a story even, but a subject overall that they are then really brilliant at creating this overall world and then filling it with characters, stories, but all things that are anchored by basically breaking down a subject. With “The Wire,” they did it with drugs. With “The Deuce,” they’re doing it with porn, and sexuality, and sex as a commodity and commerce and it’s really fascinating to see. It’s something that does take getting used to because [actors], we’re very selfish [laughter]. And it’s been an exciting process to learn to make my own character, my own ego of wanting to tell my story as my character and learn to sew it and weave it into the overall story and the bigger picture of what it’s saying.

Read the rest of the interview at The Playlist.