嗨的re, Mick:I recently watched “The Godfather” trilogy. Although I love Diane Keaton, I’ve always thought she was miscast for her role as Michael’s wife. I wonder what you think.

Nettie Cardin, Vallejo

嗨,内蒂:I think Kay was miscast as Michael’s wife, and Diane Keaton was appropriately cast as someone who unaccountably ended up miscast in life, as in married to the mob. By that measure, if Keaton seems miscast, it means she did a good job.

Dear Mick LaSalle:You don’t seem to think there is validity to the term “range” when referring to acting. Take two contemporaries likeGeorge ClooneyandDaniel Craig. Clooney has little to no theatrical experience, and Craig is stage trained. Craig is capable of playing a large variety of roles, and Clooney sticks close to his personality and does not play character parts. Do you think stage experience helps a film actor?

Dave Sironen, San Francisco

Dear Dave Sironen:You’re relating two things that aren’t necessarily connected. There are stage actors who play versions of themselves and film actors who are different from movie to movie.

As for what’s called “range,” I think many critics and moviegoers simultaneously overvalue itandmisunderstand it. They overvalue it because if an actor plays a nice guy in one movie and a serial killer in the next, the press will invariably ask, “Was it hard to shift from playing this to playing that?” And the answer is always no, because — news alert — there’s this thing called a script, and the script tells the actor what to say.

Meanwhile, what’s called range is misunderstood because it’s interpreted as seeming different from one movie to the next. But some actors have strong personalities that distract you from noticing that they’re different from role to role.Matt Damonin “The Last Duel” is totally different from Matt Damon in “Air,” but lots of people won’t notice that. However, they will notice when a chameleonic actor like Daniel Day-Lewis does something different.

最后,我认为我们应该寻找范围for isn’t diversity of roles. A huge range of roles can fall within the same general emotional palette. Rather, the range we should be looking at is emotional range. Assess George Clooney on the basis of the hospital scene in “The Descendants” and the climactic scene in “Michael Clayton.” By that measure, Clooney is easily one of the greatest screen actors of the last 20 years.

Dear Mick LaSalle:Do you watch any TV series? Which ones?

M. Reed, Danville

Dear M. Reed:I’ve never been crazy about TV shows, because they’re designed to never end. And at their worst, they’re devoted to making sure that nothing changes, that the essential situation (as in a “situation comedy”) remains intact.

However, with the pandemic, I let down my guard a bit, and over the last three years I’ve watched a fair number of really grim Scandinavian crime dramas, which I’ve liked. They’re different enough from American movies and television that they don’t remind me of work, and they’re so completely foreign that everything about them is interesting. The ones I’d recommend are “The Killing” (Denmark), “The Valhalla Murders” (Iceland) and — my favorite — “The Bridge” (Denmark-Sweden). The first couple of seasons of “Follow the Money” (Denmark) are pretty good too.

Have a question? Ask Mick LaSalle at mlasalle@sfchronicle.com. Include your name and city for publication, and a phone number for verification. Letters may be edited for clarity and length.