Helen Mirren, who appeared with Scofield in the 1989 film "When the Whales Came", said, "He aspires to the soul rather than the character. He has no sense of personal ambition. He's one of our great, great actors. We're lucky to have him." Scofield also portrayed the Ghost in Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 film adaptation of "Hamlet" alongside Mel Gibson in the title role. Gibson, who had grown up idolizing Scofield, compared the experience of performing Shakespeare alongside him to being, "thrown into the ring with Mike Tyson".