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Mortensen did have one concern before accepting the role: Would Hidalgo treat its Middle Eastern characters respectfully? "It could have been done many different ways. You could have leaned towards making it more a jingoistic exercise—a crusading cowboy goes and kicks [butt] in the Middle East. If you'd perverted it another way, it could also have been a really heavy-handed message story." He believes that, in the end, Johnston portrayed the traditions of the foreigners respectably, even if some of the characters were clearly villainous.

The film's context has contributed to rumors that the film is in some way meant to reflect the recent U.S. endeavors in the Middle East. But Mortensen says, "I signed up for this and we shot it all before the invasion of Iraq. The last few days of shooting were just as that was happening. There were people who thought, 'Oh, they're capitalizing on that … send a cowboy over to the Middle East with a bunch of Arabs and Muslims.' Some people have said that. You're conditioned [by] Hollywood to seeing different cultures being portrayed too often in a condescending way or being insulted or perverted in some way."

Many successful actors take their shot at directing a film. Mortensen's busy with other forms of art—poetry, photography, songwriting—in which he is drawn to themes similar to those that shine through his recent film characters. "I like the big stories, the big landscapes, the big sweep. But I also find that in little stories. I'm interested in tests and ordeals. That can happen in the Sahara Desert … but it can also happen in a room, in a kitchen sink drama. It happens in people's lives."

These "ordeal stories" have a lot to teach us, he believes. "The things that we remember are the good and bad things that are out of the ordinary . Whether it's a horrible car accident, or a friend gets sick, or family problems—things that take you by surprise and rearrange your life for a long or short period, those are the things you remember and potentially learn something from. Any ordeal for a time clears and purifies your vision of yourself and how you fit in or don't fit into the world. Ordeals are what make sense of life for you and teach you things. Those are the kinds of movies, at least as an audience member, that I'm drawn to."

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