Raising Hope: Katy Perry Plays Ugly Well

Katy Perry is barely recognizable underaneath a gaudy red wig and whispy mustache

Katy Perry relishes role as a wacky prison guard on Raising Hope

As we’ve all learned from Charlize Theron (Monster) and Mariah Carey (Precious), uglying up and rocking some female facial hair can get you awards season glory. Of course, that’s probably not what Katy Perry was aiming for with her role as Rikki in Tuesday’s Raising Hope episode, “Single White Female Role Model.”

Sabrina (Shannon Woodward) finds herself on the wrong side of the law after an Occupy Natesville protest (sure, they’re a little late to the Occupy game, but what else do we expect from Natesville?). Rikki (Perry, donning an awesome orange afro-mullet of curls and the aforementioned facial hair) is Sabrina’s guard in jail who claims to have been her pal from sixth grade Beaver scouts.

Her role was a small one – as was her role as Honey in “How I Met Your Mother” – but Perry proved her comedy acting chops and that she’s not afraid to ditch her typical hot-girl looks in the name of a laugh. However, I did think that How I Met Your Mother had the market cornered on working beaver-themed innuendo into a half-hour prime-time comedy.

Though another episode of Raising Hope may not be likely for Perry’s character (you know, unless someone gets locked up again, which come to think of it may be more likely than not), here’s hoping Perry throws her hat in the acting ring again soon. And hey, maybe there’ll be awards season buzz in her future after all. Rikki’s ‘stache could give Bradley Cooper’s some competition for Best Supporting Facial Hair.