Romnick Sarmenta

Romeo "Romnick" Nicolas Sarmenta Tejedor (born April 28, 1972) is a Filipino actor, film producer and professor. Noted for his performances in a range of genres across film and television, he began his career as a child actor debuting in the series Gulong ng Palad. With a career spanning nearly five decades, his accolades included the Best Actor won from the Asian Television Award, a Gawad Urian and Summer Metro Manila Film Festival, in addition to numerous nominations from the FAMAS Awards and Young Critics Circle.

At the early age of four, Sarmenta began his acting career by portraying Peping, the young kid, in the enduring drama series and groundbreaking telenovela Gulong ng Palad (1977–1983). For this role, he received a nomination for Best Child Actor at the 1978 FAMAS Awards.

He debuted as one of the performers on the variety show That's Entertainment, presented by the late Master Showman German Moreno, just three years after his first TV employment. His debut acting role was in the movie Pinagbuklod ng Pag-ibig, which also starred Nora Aunor, Vilma Santos, Tirso Cruz III, and Romeo Velasquez.

He was also chosen to play Ding, Darna's steadfast sidekick, in Rio Locsin's 1979 Darna movie.^[1]

Sarmenta was coupled with a variety of leading ladies throughout the height of his career, including Jennifer Sevilla, Sheryl Cruz, and Harlene Bautista. But his loveteam with Sheryl Cruz resonated the most among fans and viewers. Puso sa Puso (1988), Langit at Lupa (1988), and Pardina at ang mga Duwende (1989) were three of their projects together.

With the help of violent fist and gun battles and demanding stunts in the movies, Romnick became a well-known action star. In addition, he acted in historical dramas such as Tirad Pass: The Story of Gen. Gregorio del Pilar (1997), in which he played the lead role, and Damong Ligaw (1997), a movie version of Ceres Alabado's novel KangKong 1896, in which he played a farm child who became a Katipunero. In the Gil Portes drama film Miguel/Michelle from 1998, Sarmenta also played a gay character.

In 2022, he played the father of Daniel Padilla's character on 2 Good 2 Be True.^[2] He then played another gay character in the film About Us But Not About Us.^[3] In 2024, he played the journalist character on a sequel to Senior High, High Street.^[4]

Sarmenta is a native of Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. In a 2016 interview during the TOFARM Film Festival held in the city, he expressed support for the event and recalled spending his summers in the rural parts of Cabanatuan, where he was taught by his grandfather to work in the fields — learning how to herd carabaos, plow, plant rice, and later, carpentry from relatives. He said these experiences shaped his appreciation for real, honest labor.^[5][6]

Sarmenta is previously married to actress Harlene Bautista. They have five children.^[7] Now he is married to Barbara Ruaro^[8] and they have 1 child together.^[9]

He is an avid cyclist, and an active member of Elim, a Catholic Christian community, where he serves and is actively involved in missionary works of the community.

• Romnick Sarmenta at IMDb