Rumer Willis said the book was an opportunity to learn her mother’s history, some of which Moore had hinted at over the years but never told them in this much detail.

“We grow up thinking that our parents are these immovable gods of Olympus,” Rumer said. “Obviously, as we grow older, we start to realize how much our parents are just people.”

Moore said she has maintained her sobriety and that she, Rumer and Scout are seven months into a 10-month course on spiritual psychology, which she said teaches “soul-centered living.” (Moore is no longer involved with kabbalah studies — “not the human organization, which is human, so it’s imperfect,” though she said its teachings provided her with “a lot of wisdom that I still really value.”)

She continues to act in ensemble roles that she hopes will take her outside her comfort zones: She is among the cast members of a USA Network adaptation of “Brave New World” and plays an obnoxious executive in the dark comedy “Corporate Animals,” a part originally intended for Sharon Stone. And she is still developing material for herself, mentioning that a project about Isabella Goodwin, the first female police detective in New York City, could provide “a pretty spectacular character.”

Moore’s already been asked if she wrote “Inside Out” for the money, and before I could ask her again, she answered herself: “Uh, definitely not,” she said with a knowing laugh. “Because there’s a lot of easier ways to do that.”

But the idea that “Inside Out” might be perceived as a work of image management — an effort on Moore’s part to replace the version of herself that people perceive with the one she wants to be seen as, or provide one where none currently exists — is one that she wholeheartedly embraced. “I would say, yeah,” she replied. “Great! Why not?”

“Did you know me before?” she asked, already expecting that I would answer no. “Well, there you go,” she said. “That’s what I would say.”

Follow New York Times Books on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, sign up for our newsletter or our literary calendar. And listen to us on the Book Review podcast.