Romnick Sarmenta (left) with Elijah Canlas in “About Us But Not About Us”
“Being in show biz will take away a lot of your happiness, but only if you allow it,” declared Romnick Sarmenta, who started acting at age 5, when asked what life was like for him as a child actor.
“I really thought all the kids were doing it. Work was part of my life as a child, so it felt normal to me. It was only when I became a teenager that I realized I was different from others because I was already an actor. It felt normal because everybody around me at the time was very open, accepting and family-oriented. The people I worked with treated me like family,” said Romnick, who was first seen in the drama series “Gulong ng Palad,” which aired on TV from 1977 to 1985.
“If you know the reason you’re doing what you’re doing, and if that reason is enough to make you happy, you will remain happy. I can’t speak about other people’s experiences because mine is unique only to me. This is all about personal processes, acceptance, mindset and tolerance,” pointed out Romnick, who’s now 50. “There can be some things that I can be sour about with this business, but I try to look at it from a different perspective. I just have to find a reason to be grateful, whatever it is.”
During the special screening of his latest film, Jun Robles Lana’s “About Us But Not About Us,” Romnick was made to react to the latest burning issue related to actress Liza Soberano, who said she left her home network partly because she wanted creative freedom and because she wanted to rebrand.
“I am grateful for everything I have gone through. Some of them may not have been nice, some of them may have been painful, but I appreciate the lessons I’ve picked up along the way,” said Romnick, who also became part of a successful onscreen partnership with Sheryl Cruz in the 1980s. “I think love teams have their place. If you’re in that age bracket, then that’s OK. But when you’re already in your 30s, then you should rethink your strategy. I was at that age and it was in my path at the time so, no regrets.”
Tough times
He also admitted that there were several times in his 46-year acting career when he wanted to bid show biz goodbye. “The first time was when I was a teenager. There was a bad writeup about my mom. It was very personal and not true. It hurt me,” he began. “The second time was when I was in my mid-20s, and then when I finally had my family. I actually stopped because I was more interested in taking care of my children. And then in the 2010s, I just wanted to focus on my businesses. But then, I had friends who said, ‘Let’s do this project together!’ I couldn’t say ‘no,’ so I went back.”
Having said that, Romnick also stressed that he has remained grateful to a lot of people for their trust in him and his talent. “I’ve been blessed with the chance to work with people and to connect with them in such a way that we actually develop a friendship or a relationship. I don’t get chosen because I have a PR team. I think I was picked because of the good relationship I’ve managed to create in a previous project because they remembered that I was easy to work with and that I would try to deliver at the very least.”
“About Us But Not About Us,” which also features Elijah Canlas, is an entry to the 1st Summer Metro Manila Film Festival, which will run from April 8 to 18. The psychological thriller won best film (under the Critics’ Pick category) at the 2022 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia.
In the film, Romnick plays Eric, a middle-aged gay literature professor who sits down for lunch with his student Lance (Elijah) to discuss their problematic relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The way I understood my character was that, sometimes you want to do the right thing, you want to be helpful, but you get taken advantage of, just like what happened to Eric. You also have moments when you have an agenda, but can’t admit it to yourself,” said Romnick when asked to describe his character.
“I think that’s Eric for me in a sense—he wants to help, but at the same time, he also has a personal interest in Lancelot. Eric doesn’t want to act on it, and yet he is entertaining that thought. He is very mixed up with his emotions and then he still has to deal with the death of Marcus, his boyfriend. Eric is very human. He is easy to identify with regardless of personal preference. I think everyone will be able to relate to him,” he added.