Ester Expósito: The Life Story Behind Spain's Rising Star

Ester Expósito was eighteen when Élite made her famous around the world, and the series is still the centre of her story, the role against which every other role is measured. She was born on 26 January 2000 in Madrid, and she grew up in a city where television is a big business, where Netflix was arriving, and where a young actress could become a global star without leaving Spain. She began acting as a teenager, in Estoy vivo, a Spanish television series, and then she was cast as Carla Rosón in Élite, a Netflix series about wealthy teenagers at a private school, and the role made her one of the most followed Spanish actresses in the world, a face that millions of young viewers knew, and a woman who had to learn how to be famous at eighteen. The career that followed took her to Veneno, to Alguien tiene que morir, to Venus, to Bandidos, and the journey is the story of a woman who became famous young, and who is now, in her mid-twenties, trying to become an actress, not just a star, and who is doing it by working, by taking risks, and by choosing roles that are difficult.

Madrid, 2000: A Childhood at the Turn of the Century

Ester Expósito was born in Madrid in 2000, at the turn of the century, when Spain was a democracy, when Madrid was a modern European capital, and when a girl who wanted to act could dream of it without leaving home. She grew up in a family that supported her, and she has described her childhood as happy and ordinary, with school, with friends, and with a growing love of performance that she discovered for herself. The Madrid beginning matters, because Expósito has never lost the sense of being from Madrid: she is a Madrileña, she speaks with a Madrid accent, and she has kept her connection to the city even as her career took her around the world, to Netflix sets, to film festivals, to premieres. The city is the anchor, the place she comes from, and the anchor holds, even when the fame pulls hard.

The year 2000 also matters, because Expósito belongs to a generation that grew up with the internet, with social media, with Netflix, and her fame is a fame of that generation: it came through a streaming service, it lives on Instagram, it is global, and it is intense. She is one of the most followed Spanish actresses on Instagram, and the following is part of her career, part of her public life, and part of the pressure, because a young woman who is followed by millions is watched, is judged, is talked about, and Expósito has learned, young, how to live with that watching, how to keep her private life separate, and how to keep working when the attention becomes uncomfortable.

Estoy vivo and the First Television Job

Expósito began acting as a teenager, appearing in Estoy vivo, a TVE series broadcast in 2017, in which she played Ruth, a role that gave her a first experience of working on a television set, of playing a character over many episodes, and of learning the profession from the inside. The series is a fantasy drama, about a policeman who dies and returns to life in another body, and Expósito’s Ruth is a small part, but it was a beginning, and the beginning was serious, because she took the work seriously, she arrived on time, she knew her lines, and she learned. The television work taught her the basics: how to hit a mark, how to remember lines, how to work with a camera, and how to behave on a set, and the basics are the foundation of everything that came after.

The first job also taught her how to handle attention, because a young actress on television is watched, is judged, is talked about, and Expósito learned early how to live with that watching, how to keep her private life separate, and how to keep working. She has spoken about the pressure of growing up in public, and about the importance of having a family that kept her grounded, and the grounding shows in her adult work: she is a professional, she arrives on time, she knows her lines, and she does not make a drama of the job. The teenager became an adult actress without the scandals that often follow teenage fame, and that is a credit to her and to her family.

Élite: Carla Rosón and Global Fame

The role that made Expósito famous came in 2018, when she was cast as Carla Rosón Hernández in Élite, a Netflix series about a group of wealthy teenagers at Las Encinas, a private school in Spain, in which she played Carla, a girl who is rich, who is beautiful, who is in love with Samuel, played by Itzan Escamilla, and who is, in many ways, the heart of the show. The series was a phenomenon, it was watched around the world, it made its young cast famous, and Expósito, at eighteen, became a global star, a face that millions of young viewers knew, a name that was trending, and a woman who had to learn how to be famous at eighteen. She played Carla from 2018 to 2020, for three seasons, and the role made her one of the most followed Spanish actresses in the world.

Élite matters because it is a Netflix series, a show that is global, that is watched in Brazil, in Italy, in Turkey, in the United States, and that made Expósito famous in countries she had never visited. The fame was different from Spanish television fame, because it was global, because it came through a streaming service, and because it made her a star on social media, where her following grew to tens of millions. The role also taught her about the limits of fame: she has spoken about the pressure, about the difficulty of being recognised everywhere, and about the need to step back and to choose her next work carefully. She left the series in 2020, after three seasons, and the decision to leave was a brave one, because the show was still popular, and leaving meant giving up a secure job, but it also meant freedom, and Expósito chose freedom.

Tu hijo and the First Films

In 2018 Expósito appeared in Tu hijo, released in English as Your Son, directed by Miguel Ángel Vivas, in which she played Andrea, a young woman who is involved in the story of a father, played by José Coronado, whose son is beaten and left in a coma, and who seeks revenge. The film is a thriller, it is dark, it is about a father who loses control, and Expósito’s Andrea is a small part, but it was a film role, a chance to work in cinema, and a chance to prove that she could act on the big screen, not just on Netflix. The film was a success in Spain, and it showed that Expósito was willing to take small film roles, to learn, and to build a film career, even while she was famous on television.

The film work matters because it shows Expósito’s ambition: she did not want to be only a Netflix star, she wanted to be an actress, and an actress works in film, in television, in different genres, and she took the small roles, the supporting roles, and she did them well. The years after Élite were a time of choosing, of taking roles that interested her, of refusing roles that would keep her as Carla, and the choosing is the story: a young woman who became famous as a teenager, and who is now, in her twenties, trying to become an actress, and who is doing it by working, by taking risks, and by trusting that the work will lead somewhere.

Veneno: Machús Osinaga

In 2020 Expósito appeared in Veneno, an Atresplayer series created by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, about the life of Cristina Ortiz, known as La Veneno, a transgender woman who became famous in Spain in the 1990s, and in which Expósito played Machús Osinaga, a young journalist who interviews Cristina, and who becomes part of her story. The role is a supporting one, but it is a serious one, in a series that is now regarded as one of the best Spanish series of its decade, a series about identity, about trans rights, about a Spain that is changing, and Expósito’s Machús is a woman who is curious, who is respectful, who is trying to understand, and the performance is quiet, it is restrained, and it is a long way from Carla Rosón, and the distance is the point: Expósito was no longer the rich girl in Élite, she was a journalist in a serious drama, and the audience saw a different actress.

Veneno matters because it shows Expósito choosing a project that is important, that is about a real person, that is about a community that is often ignored, and that she did it as a supporting actress, not as a star, and the humility is the mark of a serious actress. The series was a critical success, it won awards, and it introduced Expósito to an audience that had not watched Élite, an audience that saw her as an actress, not as a Netflix star, and the seeing is the reward for the risk. The role is small, but it is significant, because it is the first time Expósito played a real person, in a real story, and the realness is the performance.

Alguien tiene que morir: Cayetana

In 2020 Expósito starred in Alguien tiene que morir, released in English as Someone Has to Die, a Netflix miniseries created by Manolo Caro, set in Spain in the 1950s, in which she played Cayetana Aldama, a young woman from a wealthy family, who is engaged to Gabino, played by Alejandro Speitzer, a young man who returns from Mexico, and who is hiding a secret, and the series is a drama about Franco’s Spain, about a family that is conservative, about a young man who is gay, and about a society that does not allow it. The miniseries is three episodes, it is a period drama, it is beautiful, and Expósito’s Cayetana is at the centre of it: she plays her as a woman who is trapped, who is engaged to a man she does not love, who is trying to be good, and who is, in the end, a victim of her family and of her time.

The role matters because it shows Expósito in a period drama, in the 1950s, in a Spain that is not the Spain of Élite, and the period is the challenge: she must play a woman from another time, with different manners, different clothes, different expectations, and she does it with a seriousness, a restraint, that Carla never needed. The miniseries was a success for Netflix, and it proved that Expósito could carry a period drama, that she could play a historical character, and that she was not just a contemporary star, but an actress who could work in any period, in any genre, and the versatility is the point.

Venus: Lucía and the Horror Film

In 2022 Expósito starred in Venus, directed by Jaume Balagueró, in which she played Lucía, a dancer who, after stealing drugs from a gang, takes refuge in an apartment building, and who discovers that the building is haunted, that something evil lives there, and the film is a horror, it is a thriller, it is about a woman who is running, who is afraid, and who must fight, and Expósito’s performance is at the centre of it, a woman who is alone, who is in danger, and who is, for the first time in her career, the sole lead of a film, carrying it on her shoulders. The film was a success in Spain, and it showed that Expósito could carry a film, that she could be the centre of a story, and that the audience would follow her, even when she was alone on screen, even when the film was a horror, and the following is the proof of her star power.

Venus matters because it is a genre film, a horror, and Expósito’s willingness to take it shows that she is not afraid of genre, that she is willing to play a dancer, a thief, a woman who is running, and to do it with a physicality, a fear, that the audience believes. The role is a long way from Carla, and the distance is the point: Expósito, at twenty-two, was playing a woman who is alone, who is in danger, and who must survive, and the survival is the performance, because the audience believes that she is afraid, and that she is brave, and the believing is the reason the film works.

Bandidos: Lilith and the Adventure

In 2024 Expósito starred in Bandidos, a Netflix series, in which she played Lilith, a woman who is part of a group of treasure hunters, a crew that searches for a lost treasure in the Caribbean, and the series is an adventure, it is fun, it is about a group of people who are charming, who are funny, and who are, in many ways, a family, and Expósito’s Lilith is a woman who is tough, who is clever, who is a hacker, and who is, for the first time, a character who is not a victim, not a lover, but a professional, a woman who does a job, and who does it well. The series was a success for Netflix, and it gave Expósito a new audience, an audience that had not seen Élite, that had not seen Venus, and that now saw her as an action star, a woman who could be part of an adventure, and who could hold her own in a large ensemble.

Bandidos matters because it shows Expósito in a different genre, an adventure, a series that is light, that is fun, and that is a long way from the darkness of Venus, and the lightness is the point: she can do light as well as dark, she can do adventure as well as horror, and the versatility is the mark of an actress who is growing, who is learning, and who is willing to try new things. The role also shows her as a global star, a woman whose series is watched in Latin America, in the United States, in Europe, and the global audience is the reward for the risk, for leaving Élite, for taking the difficult roles, and for trusting that the work would lead somewhere.

The Instagram Star and the Image

Expósito is one of the most followed Spanish actresses on Instagram, and her image, her fashion, her photographs, are part of her public life. She has modelled, she has appeared on magazine covers, she has worked with fashion brands, and she is often described as a style icon, and the description is accurate, but it is also incomplete, because the style is not the work. The work is the acting, and Expósito has always known the difference, even when the press has not. She uses social media, she shares photographs, she talks to her fans, and she also keeps a boundary, a line between what she shares and what she keeps private, and the boundary is important, because it means that the audience sees the actress, not just the image.

The image also brings pressure, and Expósito has spoken about it honestly, about the difficulty of being watched, about the comments, about the expectations, and about the need to protect her mental health. She has said that fame is not easy, that it can be lonely, and that she relies on her family, on her friends, to stay grounded. The honesty is refreshing, and it is part of why her fans trust her: she does not pretend that fame is all pleasure, she admits that it is difficult, and the admission makes her more human, not less. The style, the image, the following, are all real, and they are all part of the career, but they are not the career, and Expósito knows it.

Family, Alejandro Speitzer and the Private Life

Expósito was in a relationship with the Mexican actor Alejandro Speitzer from 2019 to 2021, a relationship that began on the set of Alguien tiene que morir, in which they played an engaged couple, and that ended, as young relationships often do, and she has spoken about it briefly and with dignity, and then returned to her work. She keeps her private life private, she does not share it on social media in detail, and she lets the work speak, and the choice is a statement: the actress is not the gossip, and the gossip is not the art. She remains close to her family in Madrid, and she has spoken about her mother, about the importance of home, and about the need to protect her private life, and the family is the anchor, the place she returns to after the filming, after the festivals, after the fame, and the anchor holds.

She is now in her mid-twenties, she has a global audience, she has a serious acting career, and she has the freedom to choose her next work, and the choices she has made so far suggest that she will keep choosing difficult roles, keep working in Spain and internationally, and keep building a career that is hers, not the career that fame tried to give her. The young woman who played Carla Rosón is becoming an actress, and the becoming is the story, and the story is not over, and the audience should be glad, because the best work may still be ahead.

The Star, the Actress and the Future

Expósito’s place in Spanish cinema is growing, and it is a place that no one else occupies. She is Carla, she is Machús, she is Cayetana, she is Lucía, she is Lilith, and the five roles together are the portrait of a young woman who was a star at eighteen and who is becoming an actress at twenty-five, who was famous on Netflix and who is now serious in film, and who earned the seriousness by working, by taking risks, and by proving, again and again, that she is more than a face on Instagram. The future is open, and the audience does not know what comes next, which is exactly as Expósito wants it, because the not knowing is the freedom, and the freedom is the point.

The Legacy of Élite and Venus

The legacy of Expósito’s career so far is Élite and Venus, a series and a film that are now part of Spanish popular culture, a character who is known around the world, and a performance that proved she could carry a film on her own, and the two together are the proof of her talent. The audience that watches Élite now still believes in Carla, still feels her love for Samuel, still understands her choices, and the believing is the legacy, and it will last. The audience that watches Venus still remembers Lucía, still feels her fear, still understands her fight, and the remembering is the legacy, and it will last, because great performances do not fade, they grow, and Expósito’s performances have grown, year after year, into the classics they may become.

My Take:

The first thing to say about Ester Expósito is that Carla Rosón is a trap, and Expósito knows it. Carla, the rich girl in Élite, made her famous, made her a global star, made teenage audiences around the world fall in love with her, and the love is a trap, because an actress who is loved as a rich girl is often not taken seriously as an actress. Expósito spent the years after Élite trying to escape that trap, by taking serious roles, by working in Veneno, in Alguien tiene que morir, in Venus, and the trying is the story. The escape is not complete, because Carla is still the role the audience knows best, but the trying is the point, and the trying is the proof that she is an actress, not just a star.

The second thing is the age, and the two fames. Expósito was famous at eighteen, in Élite, and she is now in her mid-twenties, trying to become an actress, and the two ages are different. The first fame was teenage, it was global, it was intense, and it taught her how to live with attention. The second fame, the fame she is building now, is adult, it is serious, it is through film, and it is teaching her how to live with a different kind of attention, the attention of critics, of directors, of an audience that judges her acting, not her image. The fact that she survived the first fame is the reason she will survive the second, and the survival is the story.

The third thing is Venus, and the proof it gave. Expósito played Lucía, a dancer who is alone, who is in danger, and who must survive, and she carried the film on her shoulders, alone, for two hours, and the carrying is the proof that she can be a leading actress, not just a supporting one, not just a member of an ensemble. The film is a horror, it is a genre film, and Expósito’s willingness to take it shows that she is not afraid of genre, that she is willing to play a woman who is running, who is afraid, and to do it with a physicality that the audience believes. The proof matters, because it is the first time she carried a film, and the carrying is the reason directors will trust her again.

The fourth thing is Veneno, and the humility. Expósito played Machús Osinaga, a supporting role in a series about La Veneno, a transgender woman, and she did it as a supporting actress, not as a star, and the humility is the mark of a serious actress. The series is now regarded as one of the best Spanish series of its decade, and Expósito’s part in it, though small, is significant, because it shows that she chooses projects that matter, that are about real people, that are about a community that is often ignored, and that she does it without needing to be the centre. The humility is rare in a young star, and it is the reason directors respect her.

The fifth thing is the Instagram following, and how it relates to the work. Expósito is one of the most followed Spanish actresses on Instagram, and the following is real, but the following is not the work, and Expósito knows it. She uses social media, she shares photographs, she talks to her fans, and she also keeps a boundary, a line between what she shares and what she keeps private, and the boundary is important, because it means that the audience sees the actress, not just the image. The image can become a trap, and Expósito has avoided the trap by doing the work, by taking the difficult roles, by playing Machús, by playing Lucía, by proving, again and again, that she is an actress first.

The sixth thing is the voice, and how it carries the performance. Expósito’s voice is Madrileña, it is warm, it is direct, and it can be funny and sad in the same scene. In Élite the voice is the voice of a rich girl, it is confident, it is the voice of a woman who knows she is beautiful, and in Venus the voice is the voice of a woman who is afraid, who is running, and the fear is the performance. The voice is the instrument, and Expósito plays it well, and the audience hears the difference between the two women even before it sees them, which is a kind of acting that the camera cannot fake.

The seventh thing is the body, and how Expósito uses it. She is a beautiful woman, and her body has been photographed, and her best work uses her beauty as a problem rather than as a gift. In Élite her beauty is a weapon, it is the reason men want her, and in Venus her beauty is almost irrelevant, because Lucía’s beauty does not help her survive, and Expósito plays the irrelevance with a dignity that is real. The body is not the performance; the performance is what she does with the body, and what she does is to make it human, to make it complicated, and to refuse to let it be simple. The refusal is the mark of a serious actress.

The eighth thing is Alguien tiene que morir, and the period drama. Expósito played Cayetana Aldama, a young woman in Franco’s Spain in the 1950s, who is engaged to a man she does not love, and who is trapped by her family and by her time, and the performance is a long way from Carla, and the distance is the point: she can play a woman from another time, with different manners, different clothes, different expectations, and she does it with a seriousness that Carla never needed. The miniseries was a success for Netflix, and it proved that Expósito could carry a period drama, that she could play a historical character, and that she was not just a contemporary star, but an actress who could work in any period.

The ninth thing is Bandidos, and the adventure. Expósito played Lilith, a hacker, a woman who is part of a treasure-hunting crew, and the role is light, it is fun, it is a long way from the darkness of Venus, and the lightness is the point: she can do light as well as dark, she can do adventure as well as horror, and the versatility is the mark of an actress who is growing. The series was a success for Netflix, and it gave Expósito a new audience, an audience that had not seen Élite, and that now saw her as an action star, a woman who could be part of an ensemble, and who could hold her own. The versatility is the reason directors will keep calling her.

The tenth thing is the honesty about fame. Expósito has spoken about the difficulty of being famous, about the pressure, about the loneliness, and about the need for privacy, and the honesty is unusual, because most young stars pretend that fame is easy. The honesty makes her more human, and it makes her fans trust her, because they know that she is not pretending. The fame that came with Élite was global, it was intense, and it could have broken her, and the fact that it did not is a credit to her, to her family, and to the small circle of people who keep her grounded.

The eleventh thing is the future, and what it might hold. Expósito is in her mid-twenties, she has a global audience, she has a serious acting career, and she has the freedom to choose, and the choices she has made suggest that she will keep choosing difficult roles, keep working in Spain and internationally, and keep building a career that is hers. The audience should expect more films like Venus, more women who are complicated, more performances that ask the audience to think, and the expectation is a happy one, because Expósito has earned it. The girl from Madrid who played Carla became an actress, and the becoming is not over.

The twelfth thing is the comparison with other Élite actors, and how Expósito stands out. Élite made many young actors famous, and most of them have stayed in television, in similar roles, and Expósito has not: she left, she took film roles, she played Machús, she played Lucía, and the leaving is the difference. The comparison is not a competition; it is a recognition that Expósito wanted more than fame, she wanted work, and the wanting is the reason she will last longer than the show that made her. The show is over for her, but the career is not, and the career is the point.

The thirteenth thing is the physicality, and how it serves the character. Expósito’s Carla is physical, she moves with confidence, she is a rich girl who knows she is beautiful, and Lucía in Venus is physical in a different way, she runs, she fights, she is afraid, and the fear is in the body, in the hands, in the face. The two physicalities are different, and the difference is the acting: Expósito knows how to use her body to tell a story, and the story is different in each role, and the telling is the performance. The audience remembers Carla’s body, the way she moves, and it remembers Lucía’s body, the way she runs, and the memory is the actress’s, not the writer’s.

The fourteenth thing is the intelligence of the career choices. Expósito could have stayed in Élite, she could have taken the big-budget roles, she could have become a Netflix star, and she chose not to, or at least not yet. She chose to go back to Spain, to play Machús, to play Lucía, to work in film, and the choice is intelligent, because it keeps her grounded, it keeps her working with directors who know her, and it keeps her from becoming a supporting actress in American series. The intelligence is the mark of an actress who thinks about her career, who plans, who chooses, and who is not seduced by fame.

The fifteenth thing is the influence, and how it is already visible. Young Spanish actresses cite Expósito as an influence, young women see that a girl from Madrid can become a global star on Netflix, can become an actress in film, and the seeing is the influence. The influence is not a matter of copying; it is a matter of permission, of Expósito giving other artists permission to be young and serious, to be famous and to work, to be themselves. The permission is the gift, and it is a gift that will last longer than any single series, because it changes what other artists believe is possible.

The sixteenth thing is the legacy so far, and what it will be. Expósito’s legacy is Carla and Lucía, a series character who is known around the world, and a film performance that proved she could carry a film on her own, and the two together are the proof of her talent. The legacy is not complete, because she is only twenty-five, and the best work may still be ahead, but the beginning is promising, and the promise is the point. The audience that watches Élite now still believes in Carla, and the audience that watches Venus still remembers Lucía, and the believing and the remembering are the legacy, and they will last.

The seventeenth thing, and the last, is the lesson. Expósito’s career says that a girl who becomes famous at eighteen can still become an actress, that a Netflix star can still become a film actress, and that the work, done patiently, is the way. She played Ruth, she played Carla, she played Machús, she played Cayetana, she played Lucía, she played Lilith, and she never stopped, and the never stopping is the point. The lesson is not that talent will always be recognised, but that the work, done with honesty and with a willingness to take risks, is its own reward, and that the reward, when it comes, is deserved. Expósito’s reward has begun to come, in the form of film roles, of a global audience, of a career that is hers, and the audience that watches her now knows that it is watching a young actress who is becoming a great one, and that the becoming was earned, in Madrid, on Netflix, and in every film where she refused to be a label and became an actress instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who did Ester Expósito play in Élite?

She played Carla Rosón Hernández, a wealthy student at Las Encinas who is in love with Samuel, in the Netflix series Élite from 2018 to 2020, for three seasons, a role that made her globally famous at eighteen.

Where was Ester Expósito born?

She was born on 26 January 2000 in Madrid, Spain, and she began acting as a teenager, first appearing in the TVE series Estoy vivo in 2017 before joining Élite.

What role did Ester Expósito play in Veneno?

She played Machús Osinaga, a young journalist who interviews Cristina Ortiz, known as La Veneno, in the Atresplayer series Veneno from 2020, about the life of the transgender icon.

Who did Ester Expósito play in Venus?

She played Lucía, a dancer who steals drugs from a gang and takes refuge in a haunted apartment building, in Jaume Balagueró’s horror film Venus from 2022, her first leading film role.

What is Bandidos with Ester Expósito?

Bandidos is a Netflix adventure series from 2024 in which Expósito played Lilith, a hacker who is part of a treasure-hunting crew searching for a lost treasure in the Caribbean.

Who did Ester Expósito play in Alguien tiene que morir?

She played Cayetana Aldama, a young woman from a wealthy family in 1950s Spain who is engaged to Gabino, in the Netflix miniseries Alguien tiene que morir (Someone Has to Die) from 2020.