She’s voiced a Smurf, she’s cameoed on How I Met Your Mother, she’s hosted SNL, and now Katy Perry has played a batty Raising Hope prison guard with a mustache! Last night Perry dropped in on the Fox family drama and acquitted herself nicely in limited screen time. Apparently Shannon Woodward, who plays Sabrina on Hope, is Perry’s best friend (Rihanna’s like WTF, Katy), so presumably the pop star wanted to hop on in order to give her pal’s show a boost. (The storyline is that Sabrina has belatedly joined up with the Occupy protests, and finds her way to the slammer in the process.) HitFix wonders if it matters: “Stunt-casting rarely moves the ratings needle in this day and age, and I don’t know that Perry fans are going to want to tune in to see her so de-glammed, but at least it gives FOX something to promote.”

More importantly: Is this the dawn of the age of Katy Perry, movie star? As she goes about accumulating small-screen and animated credits, it seems like it’s only a matter of time now before someone gives her the big-screen greenlight. So is this a good thing? Yeah, sure, why not. K.P. hasn’t quite proven she can act yet, but she hasn’t quite proven she can’t, either — so let’s give her some high-profile project in which she can either be transcendentally spectacular or a complete and utter train wreck. Broad R-rated comedy? Weepy indie? A singing and dancing biopic? The future is yours, Katy Perry.