One Man, Two Guvnors Star Jemima Rooper Wants to Talk ‘Cock Sock’ with Lady Gaga

British actress Jemima Rooper is rocking the black suit and fedora of a 1960s East End thug on Broadway in One Man, Two Guvnors, playing a young woman who is in disguise as her dead brother. Near the show’s end, Rooper drops her pants to reveal a very convincing bulge in her trousers. Turns out she’s given her prop a pretty great name ("the cock sock!") on Twitter. On the show's opening night, Broadway.com caught up with Rooper to find out what exactly is underneath those gangster duds. 

“I love the cock sock!” Rooper said with a laugh of the costume piece. "But I’m only allowed the cock sock in the cock sock scene. I begged to be able to wear it all the way through the show and I wasn’t allowed. Men don’t like letting women play around with that stuff.” The rule might be for Rooper's own good, as it sounds like she used to play around with the prop a little too much. “I used to throw it in the audience in London,” she admitted. “But it would never come back! So there are some proud owners, somewhere, of what is probably quite a sweaty sock. It’s probably best for hygiene reasons that I keep to on stage."

Given that she’s currently making her living dressing as a man, Rooper was quick to agree that she has a lot in common with pop superstar Lady Gaga, who caused an internet stir when she sported a bulge of her own at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. “And she also has a male alter ego!” Rooper exclaimed. “Which I think is amazing. She should come and see the show! We should hang out and, you know, swap gender stories.” Are you listening, Gaga? It's time to take in a show.