Sam Pang reveals VERY awkward encounter with iconic star

Funnyman Sam Pang has revealed the embarrassing moment he was left tongue-tied after coming face-to-face with Australian screen legend Jack Thompson.

The comedian said the awkward encounter with the 82-year-old screen icon occurred during last month’s AACTA Awards on the Gold Coast.

After greeting The Man from Snowy River star, things went immediately downhill for a nervous Sam.

‘I introduced myself, and said “I’m a big fan” and walked off,’ the star of the Front Bar told the Herald Sun on Wednesday.

Thompson, who scored his first big role in the 1971 classic Australian outback thriller Wake in Fright, later became a major star Down Under.

The one-time pin-up also featured in iconic Aussie films Sunday Too Far Away (1974), Breaker Morant (1980) and The Man from Snowy River (1982). 

Sam Pang (pictured) has revealed the embarrassing moment he was left tongue-tied after coming face-to-face with Australian screen legend Jack Thompson

The comedian said the awkward encounter with the Thompson (pictured) occurred during last month’s AACTA Awards on the Gold Coast

He also co-starred with Russell Crowe in The Sum of Us (1994) and featured in the Star Wars prequel Attack of the Clones (2002).

Elsewhere in the chat, Sam said he had thought about inviting Thompson on his new talk show Sam Pang Tonight – but lost his nerve.

He went on to admit that his night at the AACTA’s presented an A-list of guest talent he could approach for his own show, including Robbie Williams, Russell Crowe, Sam Neill and Bryan Brown.

But Sam says he was reluctant to reach out, adding: ‘I had to be very careful about not just blatantly asking [any of] them to be on the show.’

He also dropped details about his new show, telling the publication that viewers can expect to hear a humorous monologue about the week’s events.

Channel 10 are gearing up to launch the Have You Being Paying Attention? star’s new night time chat show Sam Pam Tonight on March 17.

Daily Mail understands at least three networks pitched for the comic after he breathed life back into Australia’s Oscars with his ‘savage’ roasts for the second year in a row.

An inside source told Daily Mail Australia that Sam has been tasked with ‘bringing his signature Pang humour,’ to a new weekly format for a Monday evening slot, which is currently in pre-production in Melbourne.

After greeting The Man from Snowy River star, things went immediately downhill for Sam 

Jack Thompson, who scored his first big role in 1971 in the classic Australian outback thriller Wake in Fright, later became a major star Down Under. Pictured in The Man From Snowy River

‘After two years of bringing down the house hosting The Logies, Sam became hot property,’ they said, ‘with a few networks pitching ‘old school tonight show’ formulas.’

Ten won the bid, which is not surprising given his many years with the network.

‘Sam has a long history with Network Ten which has given him a lot of creative control,’ the insider continued.

The vision, we are told, is for Sam to put his own spin on a starry Graham Norton-esque style panel show.

‘Australia will finally have a proper “tonight show”,’ our source added. ‘It’s something that has really been missing in our free-to-air line up and Sam’s show will be quite different to The Cheap Seats.

‘It’s more Graham Norton for Australia than weekly news commentary.’

‘I hope he embraces some of the old school magic that made late night time television iconic back in the day.’