Othello tale in composing "Othello", he departed from it in some details. Brabantio, Roderigo, and several minor characters are not found in Cinthio, for example, and Shakespeare's Emilia takes part in the handkerchief mischief while her counterpart in Cinthio does not. Unlike in "Othello", in Cinthio, the "Ensign" (the play's Iago) lusts after Desdemona and is spurred to revenge when she rejects him. Shakespeare's opening scenes are unique to his tragedy, as is the tender scene between Emilia and Desdemona as the lady prepares for bed. Shakespeare's most striking departure from Cinthio is the manner of his heroine's death. In Shakespeare,
Desdemona been numerous screen modernisations and adaptions of the play. During 1999 Edinburgh Film Festival, Adil Hussain, cast as Othello, fell in love with Kristen Jain, who was playing Desdemona. He ended up tightly hugging her, much to her & audience shock, instead of "killing" her as per the script and thus forcing the curtains to be brought down immediately. They eventually got married, 8 years later, in 2007. In "O" (2001), Julia Stiles played a character based on Desdemona in a version of "Othello" set in a contemporary high school. A 2001 British made-for-television film featuring Keeley Hawes as Desdemona