(CNN) Tom Hanks has a new penpal: an 8-year-old Australian boy called Corona, who says he has been bullied because of his name.

Corona DeVries, from Queensland, first wrote to the actor and his wife, Rita Wilson , after hearing that they had tested positive for coronavirus while in Australia.

In his letter, shown on air Thursday by Australian news channel 9News, DeVries wrote: "I heard on the news you and your wife have caught the coronavirus. Are you ok?"

Earlier this month, DeVries told 9News that he had recently been called "coronavirus" at school.

"Coronavirus -- they kept on saying that, and I get really mad," he said. So he wrote to Hanks and Wilson, wishing them well and saying he knows what it's like to feel down.

Read More