At 29, Ethan Hawke is the youngest actor to play Hamlet on film. He is also close to the age Hamlet is supposed to be in the original text, which is 30.
The only lines in the movie which are not from the original play are messages played by machines, or when the GraveDigger is singing a song ("All Along the Watchtower").
In keeping with the modernized presence of all things William Shakespeare throughout the film, Hamlet travels on a plane. This is also a play on words because in the original text of the play the scene takes place in "A plain in Denmark."
The fax machine seen near the end of the film is the "Osric." Osric is the name of the messenger in the play that informs Hamlet that Laertes has challenged him.
This is Julia Stiles's third modern film adaptation of a Shakespearean play. She was Desi Brable (Desdemona) in O come Otello (2001), which was based on Othello, and Kat Stratford (Katerina) in 10 cose che odio di te (1999) which was based on The Taming of the Shrew.