After making her feature debut, Alvarado distinguished herself in a number of fine performances, including as Diane Keaton's daughter in "Mrs. Soffel" (1984), as Maureen Stapleton's granddaughter working at a Catlike Mountain resort hotel in the underrated "Sweet Lorraine" (1987) the clunky musical "Satisfaction" (1988), co-starring Julia Roberts, as the daughter Bette Midler sacrifices all for in "Stella" (1990). She was cast opposite John Goodman in "The Babe" (1992), playing the fragile first wife of the baseball legend. before landing her most high profile film role as Meg, the oldest, conventional March sister in Gillian Armstrong's acclaimed remake of "Little Women" (1994). Unfortunately, her follow-up was the first role to take advantage of her familial heritage, playing Anjelica Huston's daughter in the critically-lambasted "The Perez Family" (1995). Alvarado fared better as the doctor living in a haunted house in Peter Jackson's "The Frighteners" (1996).