Consider Sidney J. Sheinberg. After decades atop Universal Pictures, where he found megahits like “Jurassic Park” and “Back to the Future,” Mr. Sheinberg stepped aside in 1995 and was given a lavish producing deal. But the skills that made him a successful studio boss did not translate to producing. He floundered, delivering one bomb after another, including “McHale’s Navy” and “Slappy and the Stinkers.”

At least so far, Ms. Pascal has not fallen into a similar trap.

“It has been a challenge to be patient and allow myself to learn, especially at this ripe age,” she said. “There’s some discomfort in that. Starting over again means you have to shut up and listen. But you don’t want to because you want to show everybody that you know something even when you don’t.”

She continued: “You think you’re making a movie when you’re a studio executive, but you’re not. The bigger the job you have in Hollywood, the less you are actually connected to the creative process. You’re in budget meetings and talking about head count all day. Your life is reactive.”

In multiple interviews, Ms. Pascal came across as excited and engaged. She was not especially interested in rehashing the hack, but she did not shy away from it, either.

Even with almost three years to make sense of the cyberattack, which foreshadowed corporate and governmental hacking that has now become much more commonplace, Ms. Pascal said the events of late 2014 still seem too absurd to be true. The stealing and dissemination of some 38 million Sony files — medical records, salary lists, five entire movies — was described by the F.B.I. as likely retaliation by North Korea over a Sony comedy, “The Interview,” about the fictional assassination of the dictator Kim Jong-un.

Before the episode was over, Sony became entangled in a censorship fracas, with free-speech advocates and even Mr. Obama criticizing the studio for temporarily shelving “The Interview” as theater chains balked at showing it. Hollywood stood largely silent, allowing Sony and Ms. Pascal to twist in the wind.

Was she upset that more people did not publicly support her at the time?

“People were scared, and I understood that — I understand fear,” she said. “I forgave people, as I hope people forgave me.” She added, “A lot of people did stand by me, including people who didn’t have to.” Oprah Winfrey was one, despite Ms. Pascal’s distasteful jokes about Mr. Obama, which contradicted her long track record in backing black stars and filmmakers. Another was Adam Sandler, whom Ms. Pascal bashed in one hacked email.