 The size of the principal actors had to be modified for their roles.  The 63" Liev Schreiber had to bulk up to portray Orson Welles,  while John Malkovich, who stands about 61" (a full head taller than  the real Herman Mankiewicz), had to be made to look much slighter  and smaller than usual. James Cromwell, who stands a towering 67",  was surrounded by actors in lifts, as the real William Randolph  Hearst was about 63" or 64".