Helen Hunt didn’t plan on her directorial debut taking so long.It’s been more than a decade since the Oscar-winning actress read Elinor Lip­man’s novel Then She Found Me, and knew almost instantly that she wanted to adapt it into a feature film.

She worked on a screenplay adaptation, and was attached to the project first as an actress, then as a director, but met frustration when trying to pitch the idea to investors. “Everybody sort of thought that it was better than most things they read, and not quite a movie,” Hunt said during a recent promotional stop in Dallas. “I couldn’t totally disagree with them, but it was very hard to rewrite something that was as beautifully written as this book was.”

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Helen Hunt

Hunt put the project on the backburner for a few years before deciding to revisit the script. Potential financiers provided roadblocks despite Hunt’s appeal, she suspects in part because the relationship comedy fits somewhere between gritty independent film and traditional Hollywood romantic comedy.

In the meantime, Hunt patiently re­tained control of the material. And she tweaked some of the characters and added a few others to improve its translation to the screen. Once it finally got off the ground, Hunt agreed to star and direct.

“I wanted to make a bunch of characters who were all beautiful and horrible,” Hunt said. “That was my goal.”

Hunt recruited a strong ensemble cast to the story of a 39-year-old teacher (Hunt) whose biological clock is ticking just as her husband (Matthew Brod­erick) announces he’s leaving her. Her search for answers is complicated by the intrusion of a talk-show host (Bette Midler) who claims to be her birth mother, and by a new man (Colin Firth) who urges her to let her guard down.

Hunt previously directed a handful of episodes of the sitcom Mad About You, on which she starred for eight years. But for her feature debut behind the camera, she relied on several of the experienced filmmakers with whom she’d worked in the past, whether it was for advice on the process or critiques of the script or a rough cut.

Hunt tried to keep things simple as a director, considering the low budget didn’t afford much time for rehearsals or extra takes.

“We decided very early not to get very tricky or very fancy with the camera,” Hunt said. “I knew what I wanted. I had done an unusual amount of preparation. I had a long time, because no one would give me a check, so I used that time to learn the movie more and more.”

As for her performance, Hunt said she opted to play the lead role herself only after much contemplation. For starters, the tight 27-day New York shooting schedule made coordinating schedules a challenge.

“I think, in the end, it was the right thing to do. It was one of the last big decisions I made, whether to offer it to somebody else or to play it myself,” she said. “I did not enjoy directing myself when I did Mad About You. On this movie, it started as a logistical choice, but as I got further into it, the truth is that I wanted this part. I had never played a part like this, which I thought was a legitimate reason to give myself the job.”

Hunt, 45, admitted that as her character evolved during the screenwriting and rehearsal process, it took on some autobiographical traits. So did some of the other roles.

“It is autobiographical, but for every part,” Hunt said. “I was wanting to have a baby when I was writing this. I was pregnant as I was writing part of it. I’m interested in mothers and daughters, because I find they’re very deep relationships to pull from. It’s all me. I can’t really hide anywhere.”

Hunt said she plans to continue her dual careers as actor and director. Then She Found Me is currently playing at the Angelika Film Center in Dallas.

TODD JORGENSON can be reached at 940-566-6871. His e-mail address is tjorgenson@dentonrc.com .