9 hours ago
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The email from the ABC publicist isn’t as helpful as I’d like. “Michael likes European, Chinese and Japanese,” it read.
I’m due to have lunch with Michael Theo, the 31-year-old breakout star of reality series Love on the Spectrum and the ABC comedy Austin. But as he is still living at home (“somewhat begrudgingly”) with mum Vanessa and dad Tom, in Wollongong, and doesn’t know Sydney well enough to choose a lunch spot, it’s up to me to pick.
Which is why we end up at New Shanghai on the bottom level of Westfield Sydney. It’s not flash dining, but it is delicious (the pan-fried pork buns deserve an award), the staff are always helpful and the Ashfield branch is my go-to spot for all ages and dietary requirements.
Michael Theo, star of Love on the Spectrum and Austin, enjoys lunch at New Shangai.Credit: Peter Rae
The only problem? Theo doesn’t eat pork, and it’s quite noisy – and full-on – this Friday lunchtime. He doesn’t want to make a fuss over the noise, but after a couple of goes trying to find a quieter table, we settle in and Theo, who has never had dumplings before, boldly dives in with chicken and celery dumplings and wok fried king prawns with salted egg yolk.
I add in the Yangzhou fried rice and the last-meal-worthy string beans with dried shrimp and soy sauce. Neither of us drink, so it’s sparkling and still water on the side.
“You can never have too much protein,” he says. “But apparently my GP said that eggs add to cholesterol. But I find it hard to believe.”
Today, Theo is wearing one of his signature brightly patterned shirts. The 31-year-old is as familiar in person as he is on screen, with wonderfully expressive eyes that pop if he’s excited or surprised. He’s not nervous about sitting down for an interview, either. “Doesn’t bother me in the slightest.”
Greta (Claire Lovering) is Austin’s (Michael Theo) new overbearing agent in season two of Austin.Credit:
He has spent the past six years navigating his rise as an unlikely celebrity after he first appeared on the 2019 ABC series Love on the Spectrum, which followed young adults on the autism spectrum as they went on dates. Theo became an audience favourite, here and in the US where it streamed on Netflix, with his funny, frank and thoughtful observations, as he happily – and seriously – declared becoming a husband was his No.1 dream.
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“I saw it as a golden opportunity to help me find love,” he says. “Because Wollongong is not really the place to find love. Maybe some people are lucky to meet their partner in their hometown. I wasn’t.”
What’s so good about being a husband?
“I just love the idea of being, of being in a committed relationship and sharing my life with that person until one of us dies.”
Theo didn’t find love on the show (he has now, though), but he did find a vast audience who were interested in him. This was quite the revelation to Theo, who had always felt invisible.
“I was stunned,” he says about discovering he was a hit. “Because I just couldn’t understand why, I didn’t see myself as anything special.”
The quintessential gentleman: Michael in Love on the Spectrum.Credit:
Has that changed? “I see myself as a special person, but that doesn’t make me better than others,” he says.
And this girlfriend? “I have actually been in a committed relationship for nine months,” he says. “It makes me feel great because it feels great to be loved by a woman who is not your mother.”
His girlfriend is nine years older than him and Theo happily admits he “has a preference for older women”.
“What I’m about to say is purely my opinion and not facts,” he says. “I have a preference for women in their 30s and 40s because they are generally more intelligent, more mature, more secure in themselves. They’re more sure of themselves. They know what they want. Their taste in men is more refined. They’re more content to settle down. They’re smarter with money, and they don’t care about frivolous things.”
That sounds about right to me. “Because I need a woman, not a girl, that can’t figure out what she wants.”
Theo is a natural comedian – he was non-verbal as a boy, but it was through his love of animation and comedy that he began to communicate – and now he’s a natural TV star in the delightful comedy Austin.
Michael Theo digs into New Shanghai’s string beans with shrimp and soy sauce. Credit: Peter Rae
Theo plays Austin Hogan, a young man with autism who lives in Canberra with his mum Mel (Gia Carides) and granddad Bill (Roy Billing). In season one, Austin discovered his father was British children’s author Julian Hartswood (Ben Miller). The pair meet while Julian – who has been recently cancelled because he accidentally retweeted a neo-Nazi influencer – is on a book tour with his wife and illustrator Ingrid (Sally Phillips).
“I would say Austin is like me in terms of speaking very formally and having encyclopedic knowledge,” says Theo.
Lunch at New Shanghai is (clockwise from front) chicken and celery dumplings, string beans with dried shrimp and soy sauce, wok fried king prawns with salted egg yolk and Yangzhou fried rice.Credit: Peter Rae
Initially, Julian sees Austin could be his saving grace – what better redemption arc than reconnecting with a neurodivergent long-lost son? – but once Austin travels to Julian’s home in London, the pair connect and a genuine relationship forms.
What makes Austin work – and initially, I really didn’t think it would – is the chemistry Theo shares with all the cast (in particular with Carides, whose character is modelled on Theo’s actual mum, Vanessa). Importantly, the show doesn’t coddle Theo, and the laughs never come from Austin’s autism. If anyone is the punchline, it’s generally his dad Julian.
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“I was not worried about autism being part of the show,” he says. “It’s not about autism. It just happens there’s just a character that happens to be on the spectrum.”
He thinks people with autism, particularly on screen, are still stereotyped, but that attitudes are “slowly changing”. He also doesn’t think he’s been treated differently since becoming a public personality.
“I don’t expect special treatment because I’m still just another human being at the end of the day,” he says. “And also, I have a lot of friends who aren’t in the acting world, but that doesn’t bother me at all because there’s a philosophy that I live by: ‘Hold on to your friends.’ Because you only discontinue friendships that are no longer worth your time, and if they’re worth my time, I keep them.”
What makes a good friend then? “Someone that will make the time for me when they can, someone I get along with and can just enjoy my time with.”
One of those good friends now is Carides, who he thinks of as his “second mum”; he counts a photo of Carides and his mum, Vanessa, together as one of his most treasured possessions.
In season two, Austin is about to become a publishing hit with his book Game of Scones: An Autistic Guide to Britain. He falls under the spell of his ambitious agent, and the trappings of his new “neuro-spicy” fame result in some shouty bad behaviour.
This was difficult for Theo, who added script consultant to his job title for season two. “I didn’t want Austin to become unlikeable.”
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He loved filming away from home, in both Canberra and London, “for the peace and quiet and privacy”.
Doesn’t get that at home? “I get the peace and quiet, but not enough privacy.”
Filming in London, where season one of Austin was praised for its portrayal of autism outside “the usual tired trope of autistic savants”, was fun, he says, but he doesn’t think he could live there (despite the full-time access to his beloved Stinking Bishops cheese).
“Because everything’s so expensive over there. And also the weather’s not the best, and the traffic conditions aren’t the greatest either.”
On Sunday night, Theo will attend the Logie Awards, where he has been nominated for a Silver Logie for best lead actor for season one of Austin. He will wear his signature top hat and is most keen to meet comedian Kitty Flanagan, creator and star of the ABC comedy Fisk.
“She’s the reason why I’ve been watching Utopia and the reason why I’ve been giving Fisk a second chance,” he says.
He didn’t like it? “Well, I didn’t like it the first time, the first season, I couldn’t get one chuckle out of it, really. But I’m giving it a second chance because I bought the first two seasons on DVD.
“I’m in the same category as Kitty [at the Logies]. And at the AACTA awards earlier this year, I lost an award to her. But I don’t consider that an insult because she’s the epitome of brilliance, and I have something that I would really want to say to her: ‘You have no idea what a privilege, what a pleasure it is, for me to lose an award to you.’”
Michael Theo says what drives him is not taking no for an answer.Credit: Peter Rae
As we prepare to wrap up lunch – it’s been a hit and Theo is taking home a container with scant leftovers (we made a good dent in a substantial spread) – I ask him what’s next. He does seem unstoppable.
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He would like to continue acting and work with, among others, Susie Porter, Shane Jacobson, Claudia Karvan and Justine Clarke, and do more voice work for animation. He’s also a consultant for Aspect (Autism Spectrum Australia), for which he has been visiting schools and workplaces.
“I want to inspire these autistic students that they can accomplish their dreams and to also be determined,” he says.
What drives him?
“Just my refusal to take no for an answer,” he says. “Because I noticed years ago that a lot of people weren’t taking no for an answer from me, but I took no for an answer from them. So I thought, ‘Why should I do that if people aren’t going to take it as an answer from me?’
“Sometimes, if you want your goals to happen, sometimes you need to take action yourself, even if others will disapprove.”
Austin (season two) is now streaming on ABC iview.
