The Cat’s Meow: "Edward Hermann is playing Hearst. He's one of those great older character actors who I've been a fan of for a lot of years, since I first saw him on "St. Elsewhere". He's got the right presence, the right bearing to play that odd combination of insecurity and Old Testament fire that Hearst was capable of."
~unattributed quote

"Edward Hermann, who plays Hearst, is a superb actor who I've seen both on the stage and in movies," notes the director. "He just does a great dramatic performance…complicated, full of color, as full of complication as Hearst. He also looks a lot like Hearst. It was quite amazing."

To Herrmann, an acclaimed actor equally at home on stage, on television or in feature films, the opportunity to portray one of the most powerful men in the world of his time was irresistible.

"Hearst was an archetypal power broker, a media mogul before such things existed," says Herrmann. "He could make or break anything or anyone; he could start wars or break a president - he was absolutely extraordinary. As a person, he was far more enigmatic and difficult to pigeonhole. He had enormous appetites like J.P. Morgan, but was also adolescent and even childish in many ways. He loved to create the world he wanted to see and had the power to do it."