Beloved Anh Do series to make it to the screen

Growing up in Marrickville in the 1980s, Anh Do’s friends nicknamed him “Weirdo” – a playful twist on his surname (“Weir Do”).

Little did Do know that the books he would go on to write, inspired by his childhood, would dominate Australia’s bestseller lists for five consecutive years. Now, they’re set to hit television screens.

Anh Do’s Weirdo books and his Wolf Girl series are set for screen adaptations.Credit: Jeremy Park

The Weirdo series is being turned into a television series in partnership with Warner Bros. Ludo studio – creator of the beloved children’s show Bluey - has animated the pilot. A release date has not yet been announced. Do’s Wolf Girl series is being adapted into a film by Rose Byrne’s production company Dollhouse Pictures, alongside Foundation Media Partners, with casting expected to begin in coming months.

Speaking from Canberra, where he had just finished soundcheck for a stand-up show, Do reflected on the nickname he was given as a child. While “Weirdo” might sound harsh, he insists it was never meant to offend: “They weren’t teasing me – it was just something to do, you know. We were just bored as kids.”

It’s fitting we speak while he’s on the road. Do credits his career as a stand-up comedian with inspiring him to become a writer. Since 2013, more than 10 million copies of his books have been sold worldwide, with other popular titles including Ninja Kid, Hot Dog and Smarty Pup.

Anh Do’s Weirdo Weird Holiday, with illustrations by Jules Faber.Credit:

“Being a stand-up comedian can be a very lonely job because you spend a lot of time by yourself. I was bored, so I just started making up characters, putting them into adventures. And then fast-forward [to now], we’ve got a sort of universe of stories,” he says. “I’d go a little bit bananas just locked up in a hotel room if I don’t occupy myself.”

The Weirdo books are about Weir Do, whose mum’s last name is Weir and dad’s is Do. Something of an outsider, he starts at a new school, where it soon becomes clear he has a good heart and some strange habits. Wolf Girl follows Gwen, a young girl who gets separated from her family and who learns how to survive thanks to a new-found family of dogs.

Along with the team at Ludo, Do worked on the pilot episode of Weirdo with Johnny Lowry, now at Warner Bros, who produced the ABC TV show Anh’s Brush with Fame.

To prepare for the show, Do revisited some of the TV programs he loved as a child, including Astro Boy and Scooby-Doo. He said Astro Boy stands out for its heart. “It’s all about this robot who … really doesn’t feel like he fits in. And so he’s always just working to be the best person he can so that he fits in. And it’s a little bit like Weirdo in a way. It’s heart. It’s family – it makes you laugh, it makes you cry a little bit.”

When Do took the Weirdo pilot home, his nine-year-old daughter and her friends watched it repeatedly. “Just about every kid feels like they’re a little bit different. Very, very rarely do you have a kid who’s completely 1000 per cent happy with everything that they are,” Do says. “And it’s not just kids. It’s people – it’s me.”

Best known for his portraiture, Do has also recently been working on landscape paintings and plans to hold an exhibition later next year. His portrait of the late Jack Charles won the 2017 Archibald Prize People’s Choice award; he was a finalist in 2014, 2017 and 2019.

Born in Vietnam in 1977, Do and his family arrived in Australia as refugees in 1980. His life story is documented in his 2010 memoir The Happiest Refugee.

According to Nielsen BookScan, Do was the top-selling Australian author from 2019 to 2023 and remains the highest-selling author so far in 2024. As he prepares to head off for his stand-up gig, the former law student-turned-comedian-turned-artist-turned-writer seems amazed. “It probably started at the Tamworth Motor Inn. Ten million books later, and it was all an accident.”

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