By Ruthanne Tarantino, News Correspondent

Northeastern students may have a future film star as a classmate.
Senior marketing major Kevin Stanton has a role in the upcoming short film, ‘DIVE,’ directed Michael Lawrence and written by Joshua Banta. The drama stars Jason Kelly (‘Mystic River’ and ‘Brotherhood’), Eamon Brooks (‘The Surrogates’) and Dave Conley (‘The Departed’). Stanton plays the character of Scott, a regular at a bar in the film.
‘DIVE’ will shoot this weekend in Whitey’s Pub in South Boston. It is scheduled for release February 2010 and the filmmakers hope to send it to film festivals. Stanton said there are also plans to make ‘DIVE’ into a feature-length movie.
Originally from Ireland, Stanton attends Northeastern through an exchange program with Dublin City University (DCU). He spent his first two years of college at DCU, and is currently in his second and last year at Northeastern. He will graduate from both universities with marketing degrees.
Acting, however, is not new to Stanton. Growing up, he took speech and drama classes, participated in plays in high school, and continued to do so at DCU, which is known for its notable drama society.
‘My parents told me to do something solid first so you also have something to fall back on, and you can do the dream afterwards,’ he said. ‘That’s kind of what I’ve been doing, but I’ve been trying to stay with the acting thing as much as possible. Back in Dublin I did a lot, and since I’ve came here it’s been a little bit quieter and I just kind of happened upon this. I’ve been lucky with that.’
Stanton said he heard about the audition by chance. He said he knows the owner of Whitey’s Pub, who mentioned that the bar was going to be the setting of a short film and suggested Stanton audition to be an extra. When Lawrence visited the pub one night, Stanton came in, met him and received a draft of the script.
Originally there weren’t any parts for Stanton. He auditioned for one of the regulars at the bar, who was supposed to be an older character.
‘He tailored [the part] a little bit, and suited it to fit me. Then he cast me in that role,’ Stanton said.
The film takes place over one evening in the bar with a flashback scene, where a young prized boxer ‘fights for his family name,’ according to the movie’s Facebook group.
Stanton revealed more: The film is centered around a young boxer in South Boston. He is set to inherit his grandfather’s bar from his father,’ but doesn’t want it. He is a boxer, but he does not want that to define him ‘-‘ both his father and grandfather were boxers.
But the film isn’t a typical story of lower-class Bostonians.
‘What Michael … really wanted us to stay away from [was] all the movies that come out about South Boston that are about gangs and gangsterism, because he said that’s not a fair reflection of everybody down there, but boxing is a large part of it,’ he said. ‘So it’s basically about a boxer trying to get away from his father and grandfather’s past life and indiscretions.’
As for his future, Stanton said he is unsure if he’ll land in the business or acting world.
‘Like everybody else, I’m still on the job hunt. [The film could be] a great success, we’re not exactly sure yet,’ Stanton said. ‘Or, it could just be a nice experience at the end. Even if it is successful, that could be the extent of my acting career. I’m going to have to take it one day at a time.’
‘DIVE’ will shoot this weekend and is set locally in Whitey’s Pub in South Boston. It is scheduled for release February 2010 and the filmmakers hope to send it to film festivals. There are also plans to make ‘DIVE’ into a feature-length movie.