HE fiddles around on his newfound ‘toy’ — a BlackBerry — enjoying the thrill of ‘BB-ing’. A sheepish grin appears on his face when he realises he is being watched.

“I used to wonder how people could text away like that, now that I’ve got my BlackBerry I’m hooked,” confessed the young man who plays the lead role in Chris Browne’s newest flick Ghett’A Life — currently on screens at Palace Amusement Company cinemas.

Looking at him, you could never guess that he is the same person who manages to tug at your emotions with his gripping portrayal of the inner-city boy Derrick who used his talent for boxing as his escape from the inner city.

Kevoy Burton is living the dream, enjoying the lead role in a movie that seems destined to hit the big times, he is still trying to convince himself that it is all real.

There is no doubt about this young man’s talent as watching Ghett’A Life the many play of emotions that flit across his face is testament to how involved he gets with his character. And to think that he never once thought about acting on a professional level.

“I enjoy acting, but I thought of it more like something I would do for a hobby, not as a profession,” Burton told Splash. It was this love that saw him joining Ardenne High drama club in 2009.

His love of acting would soon bear fruit when his drama teacher and manager Susan Beadle told him he had an audition to do — that of the role of Derrick in Ghett’A Life.

With two other actors in contention for the role, young Burton knew he had to pull out all the stops. So intense was the talent pool that after four auditions, the deciding factor was seeing how they handled themselves in the boxing ring — Burton pulled away from the pack.

For Burton it was the experience of a lifetime; working alongside high calibre actors Carl Davis, Winston Bello Bell, Chris McFarlane, Kenny Salmon and Teddy Price.

“It was humbling. I grew up watching these men on TV, even right now it’s striking me that I worked with some really big actors,” he said, the sense of wonder still filling his voice.

What Burton finds delightful about the whole experience is that the actors whom he revered didn’t see themselves in that light.

“They talk to you normal, they are not hype, there’s no level of arrogance about them,” he mused.

A perfectionist himself, Burton says he was forever criticising his performance, but with a little shrug he admits that his opinion wasn’t important.

“The most important thing was people’s reaction, I criticised everything I did, what matters most is what people thought after the movie came out.”

He didn’t have to worry about that as the positive reviews and comments from those who had seen it was enough to reassure him on the good job he did.

Burton, who hails from Spanish Town, St Catherine, said shooting the movie was six intense weeks of work, fun and new friendships — acknowledging that Kadeem Wilson who plays Gully Rat is now his very good friend. He is also now fond of his month-long boxing coach, Bruising Gym’s Carl Grant.

With Ghett’A Life behind him now, Burton is already looking forward to new things — being in another movie, if the chance presents itself, as well as starring in stage productions — his last one being Tapestry.

In the meantime, he is looking forward to university life as he has been accepted to pursue a degree in television production.