Grey’s Anatomy Star Jake Borelli Breaks Down Levi’s Surprising Exit

When Grey’s Anatomy fans met Levi Schmitt in 2017, they didn’t just fall in love with his character, the well-intentioned-if-awkward medical student played by Jake Borelli.

“A lot of [his] feelings came from me. A lot of his klutziness,” Borelli tells Bustle. “A lot like Levi, I was thrust into this thing that felt so much bigger than me.” During his first-ever ER scene, for example, he tried to snap on his sterile gloves correctly, but his fingers kept getting stuck in the wrong places. It felt like a “do-or-die moment,” he says. “And I haven’t even gotten better. It’s honestly the hardest thing to do. But I’ve gotten better at looking like a doctor.”

Indeed, seven seasons later, Levi discovered a calling for pediatrics, which precipitated his exit from the show. In the Nov. 14 episode, he left Grey Sloan Memorial with his new boyfriend, James, to pursue research in Texas.

It’s a life-changing moment for Borelli and his character. Shortly after Levi came out on screen in 2018 — ultimately becoming the first series-regular character who was an out, gay man — Borelli himself came out, too.

“To close this journey out with him fully stepping into his queerness, finally finding a relationship that’s based on communication and love and excitement to build something together in the future — that’s something that, as a queer guy myself, is invaluable to see on a show like this,” he says.

Even if Levi is stepping away for now, Borelli remains part of the Grey’s family and has been shadowing the directors in hopes of getting behind the camera. But before that, he breaks down Levi’s future plans and behind-the-scenes highlights.

The door is very much open for Levi’s return. Do you have an idea of what his future could look like?

I mean, I would come back next month. I would come back in six months for the birth of Jo’s twins, and I would love to see him come back as a peds attending with everything that he’s learned in Texas. From the moment we knew Levi was going into peds, it was incredible to show that there can be a wonderful working relationship between gay men and younger patients. To see that through Levi, someone that we know and trust, would have been wonderful. I’m still hopeful for that storyline.

During this last episode, Jo asks Levi if he remembers the time he dropped his glasses into a patient’s abdomen — and you reply, “I try really hard not to.” Do you have any similarly awkward moments from your early days on Grey’s?

I feel like everything was awkward. One of the big embarrassing things was down in the dungeons, where the interns chill. When Levi runs off in the 300th episode, and he just totally eats it and falls on the ground, that was me really tripping and falling. Debbie Allen was the director, and I looked at her, “Oh, did you get it on camera?” She was like, “It’s staying in.”

Any sweet memories you smile looking back on?

There’s an episode with a patient named Tovah, [played by] Meryl Hathaway, one of the best guest stars I’ve ever worked with. There was a point where we said the Mourner’s Kaddish, a Jewish prayer, and she’s Jewish in real life. We talked about what it meant for her to be telling these stories on screen. She honestly saved me in that prayer because I don’t speak Hebrew, and she did. That’s why that scene is so good. Originally, it was scripted as Levi saying that prayer to her, and it ended up being the two of us saying the prayer together, and her using it as a catharsis after losing her baby. That moment was when I was like, This is bigger than any of us.

You’ve said that you look forward to telling more queer stories. Is there something specific you’re working on?

I have some stuff in the works that are in line with sitcoms, which is a huge love of mine. I grew up watching sitcoms. It’s why I wanted to be an actor. We got to touch on some of that energy with Levi, but I would love to do a queer-centered sitcom one day.

There’s this incredible playwright, Julie Cohn, and we’re working on developing one of her projects into a feature. Over the years, I’ve read lots of queer scripts, so my dream would be to start directing some of them and putting them out there.

Since you mentioned sitcoms, what’s a comfort watch these days?

Oh, my gosh. I love Survivor. I’ve seen every single episode, every single season, multiple times. I would love to go on Survivor. So now that I’m free — Jeff Probst, hit me up.

Looking back, what’s the biggest way your life has changed since starting Grey’s seven years ago?

I came out of the closet through this show, which is massive, wild, and terrifying. It put me in this position to be vulnerable on a platform that many people don’t ever have the opportunity to be vulnerable on, and to hear people’s stories. Some of the more surprising ones are actually from parents of queer kids, where watching this show gave them a language with which to speak about queerness.

I hope that young queer people who watch the show see themselves reflected in a way that brings them courage, power, and excitement to take on these challenges.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.