Rising actress of stage and screen Beanie Feldstein penned an emotional guest column for Variety, published Wednesday, on the first time she “felt othered for being Jewish” as part of the Hollywood trade magazine’s Antisemitism and Hollywood series.

It’s important to note that the piece was written before October, preceding the horrific Hamas attacks in Israel — and therefore speaks to more universal truths about her experience with antisemitism in Hollywood.

Feldstein, the younger sister of Jonah Hill, writes in the column of the first time she performed in a professional theatrical production, “Annie,” at the La Mirada Theatre, about an hour outside of Los Angeles. While growing up in West LA surrounded by other jews, Feldstein grew up feeling that “being Jewish felt natural, represented, full of community.” But she felt quite a different vibe while performing at the La Mirada Theatre, especially before the Sunday matinee performance on April 11, 2004.

As Feldstein recounts, “Before each performance, the producer of our show would do a curtain speech. But on this day, the speech began differently: ‘Happy Easter! We just want to thank you again for spending such a special day with us. For you all to celebrate Easter Sunday at the theater with us means the world. Oh! And you know what, it is not just Easter today. We also want to wish a special Happy Passover to the only Jew in our cast, our little Jewish orphan, Beanie. Beanie, will you come out here?'”

Beanie goes on to describe feeling like a deer in headlights as she is singled out and brought on stage, then forced to endure questions and stares from her cast mates backstage, including one blond haired co-star who asked her, “You’re Jewish? But you look just like us?”

Feldstein continued, “In that theater just an hour outside of Los Angeles, as I was surrounded by 10 Christian girls looking at me desperately trying to find something wrong on me: their squinted eyes asking, ‘Is it her nose?,’ ‘Is it her hair?’ I felt like a sideshow act.”

Feldstein’s column intentionally tries to counter the harmful and prejudicial stereotype perpetuated by the far right and others of Jews controlling the media. As she eloquently puts it, “To be Jewish is to somehow be unseen and overseen all at once. To be under a harsh, blinding spotlight and yet erased, invisible, simultaneously.”

Beanie Feldstein’s words remind readers that antisemitism takes many forms and is found both near and far, and although the column was written before the Hamas-Israel war raging in Gaza right now, it’s hard not to view her comments in the context of the tragic events unfolding in the Middle East.