 Both Robert De Niro (qv) and Nick Nolte (qv) had to alter their  physiques for the film because the 61", bulky, Nolte is clearly  larger than the 510", slimmer De Niro. Nolte lost a good deal of  weight while shooting the film and De Niro bulked up his muscles  considerably until De Niro was clearly Noltes physical superior.  Interestingly the original Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck (qv)) was also  slightly taller than the original Max Cady (Robert Mitchum (qv)).