Feldstein, who played a supporting role in “Lady Bird,” compared Wilde to that film’s writer-director, Greta Gerwig, who was also an actor making her solo directorial debut with a comedic coming-of-age story.

“You just know when someone’s meant to tell a story, and when you’re part of something that is meant to be told,” Feldstein said. “On ‘Lady Bird,’ I felt I was seeing someone create something that only they could tell. And then when I met Olivia, I was like, ‘There’s two of them?’”

A directorial follow-up seems all but certain for Wilde, though neither she nor her “Booksmart” partners have found it yet. Whether it’s another comedy, a drama or something else entirely, Elbaum said: “I’m desperately trying to find it. I literally send her everything that comes across my desk.”

Wilde said she remained committed to acting, even more so now that she’s been on the other side of the camera. “Acting is catharsis,” she said. “It’s therapy. It only gets better when you’re not doing it out of necessity.”

For now, Wilde is savoring the “Booksmart” experience and feeling like she has finally lived up to the potential that others saw in her. Recalling another formative celebrity encounter, she talked about meeting Steven Spielberg at an event for “The Peacemaker” and telling him she also wanted to make movies.

Some time later, Wilde received a note from Spielberg that read: “If you wanna be a doctor, look before you leap. If you wanna be in show business, leap before you look.”

Wilde had the note framed and keeps it in her office. “I want to tell him I took that leap,” she said.