Adlih Alvarado Steps Behind the Camera with New Short Film Espresso.

Actress and filmmaker Adlih Alvarado is steadily building a career that moves fluidly between performance and storytelling behind the camera. Known for her on-screen roles in series such as All’s Fair and This Is Us, Alvarado is now expanding her creative reach with her newly completed short film Espresso, a project she wrote, directed and stars in.

Currently preparing for its festival run, Espresso reflects Alvarado’s growing interest in intimate, emotionally driven filmmaking and her desire to tell stories rooted in personal perspective.

Set in Los Angeles in 2015, Espresso centres on a defining moment in an actor’s career — a chemistry read for a major studio film. Within the pressure of the audition room, professional ambition unexpectedly collides with emotional vulnerability, capturing the delicate balance between opportunity and connection.

Alvarado says the idea for the film came from an unexpected source: an interview with Andrew Garfield discussing the first time he met Emma Stone during the casting process for a film.

“He described her as being like a shot of espresso,” Alvarado explains. “It made me think — I wish someone described me like that. Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I couldn’t help imagining what it must feel like to have that kind of spark with someone who’s also trying to get the job.”

That fleeting but powerful idea became the emotional core of the film.

The film’s 2015 setting was a deliberate creative choice. Alvarado wanted to explore the audition process at a time before the industry’s shift toward self-taped auditions accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When you’re auditioning, it’s hard not to think about the other actors going for the same role,” she says. “Originally I wanted to show several actors competing for the same part — the underdogs, the nepotism babies, the classic ‘actor look.’ I wanted audiences to understand why each of them might be there.”

At the same time, Alvarado intentionally avoided anchoring the story too firmly in the present day.

“I personally dislike stories that feel too tied to the moment — references to social media or slang can date a film quickly. Setting it in 2015 created a little distance while still keeping the story relatable.”

The project was filmed over just three days with a small, tightly knit crew — a production model that reflects Alvarado’s instinctive, hands-on approach to filmmaking.

The idea for Espresso had been sitting in outline form for nearly two years before she decided to push forward with the project.

“One thing about how I work is that if I don’t make something now, it may never get made,” she says.

Originally, another director was attached to the project, but as development progressed Alvarado realised the story was drifting away from her original vision.

“It started becoming very male-centred, and my character Emily Davis was starting to feel weak and misrepresented. So I stepped back into the director role, gathered a few friends who loved the idea, blocked out three days — and honestly just prayed until we wrapped.”

Espresso blends romance with a subtle examination of life inside the entertainment industry. Rather than leaning into overt drama, Alvarado chose to build the emotional arc through quiet, understated moments.

“Balancing romance with the industry was a challenge,” she says. “You have to start from a place of loving the industry — I want to be working in it. I had to keep asking myself what felt honest and what might feel too cheesy.”

For Alvarado, the emotional tension of the story lies in the small details — shared glances, awkward pauses and the fragile possibility of connection.

“The excitement comes from loving the work you do and the person you might get to share it with,” she adds.

Now that Espresso is complete, the project has helped clarify the kind of stories Alvarado hopes to pursue moving forward.

“I joke that I’m the love child of Sofia Coppola and David Lynch,” she says. “But there’s truth in that. I’m not interested in making commercial films or reboots. I want to make films about feelings — about the strange and the beautiful.”

More than anything, the experience reinforced the importance of collaboration and creative community.

“This project encouraged me to expand my circle and learn to lean on others. It feels like a step toward the kind of filmmaking life I want — one rooted in honesty, emotion and curiosity.”

As Espresso begins its festival journey, Alvarado’s move into writing and directing signals the emergence of a filmmaker with a distinct voice — one interested less in spectacle than in the quiet, powerful moments that shape people’s lives.