Jake Borelli Talks Levi Schmitt’s Final “Grey’s Anatomy” Episode And Shares His Favorite Memories From The Show

For nearly eight years, Jake Borelli has portrayed Dr. Levi Schmitt on Grey’s Anatomy. Coming in as a medical student, he quickly became a beloved intern who was at the center of some of the biggest moments, namely his coming out storyline that ultimately led to Jake coming out in real life, too. 

However, now Levi is saying goodbye to Grey Sloan as he sets off for Texas to continue his study of pediatric surgery.

Below, Jake walks us through his final episode of Grey’s Anatomy, as well as looks back on some iconic moments, and more.

1. First, your final Grey’s Anatomy episode really centers on Jo and Levi, who have become such great friends during your time on the show. How was it working with Camilla Luddington for this final episode?

I’m obsessed with Camilla. Honestly, when we see a Jo and Levi scene — “Jovi” is what we call them — it brightens us up so much. You know, if we go three episodes without seeing Jo and Levi, everyone gets very sad. So I think it was the perfect ending for Levi, for now, to be with Jo and to really explore that relationship and see how the two of them have affected each other so much over the past few years. 

I mean, those goodbye moments were so genuine because it was truly us saying goodbye to each other in this work sense as well, and it was difficult for both of us. And I think the writers also gave us both, as actors, the sort of room to pitch ideas and to make this moment really specific to Jo and Levi. And I think what we came up with was wonderful and, also heartbreakingly, very similar to what Camilla and I were going through.

Is there anything specific that you both suggested that made it into the final episode?

Oh, I mean so much. Even that, the whole monologue that she has at the end about the reason why she was so upset with him leaving OB. There’s, like, a sort of, nudgy brother and sister banter back and forth that they have that we really wanted to keep in there.

Do you have a favorite Jo and Levi moment from your time on the show?

Oh gosh, there’s so many. Right now I’m thinking about in Season 14, when we find out that Karev had slept with syph-nurse, Olivia. So then, for some reason, Levi connects the dots, and he’s like, “Oh my god. Do I have syphilis?” I thought was very funny. 

Also, their whole time living together. There was this really cute moment where they were bickering about something, and then they make up, and he’s like, “Should we watch a movie with cute guys in it?” And then they just sit down and watch a movie. Little moments like that, where it’s like, we need to see gays and their best girlfriends just living life more.

The fact that Jo brought up the time she slept with Levi in this episode. I had completely forgotten that it happened. 

That was a moment the writers put in. I was like, Yes! Never forget! Never forget.

2. Levi’s coming out storyline remains one of the most impactful on Grey’s, and you subsequently publicly came out following that storyline. How was it portraying that big Grey’s moment while also having a big personal moment as well?

It was the hardest, most stressful, scary thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. And I’m so glad that I did it, and I’m so glad that we got to tell this story of Levi, and I’m so glad that it ended up connecting me, personally, to so many more people. So many more people like me. It opened myself up to the queer community. 

The amount of conversations that I’ve gotten to have with queer people, with allies, with parents of queer kids, and how I’ve been able to let that inform our storytelling on Grey’s, has been one of the highlights of my life. And it was terrifying doing it on a world platform. I hope that we continue to get to tell more.

3. Do you remember what the audition process was like for Grey’s Anatomy?

Let me tell you, I almost didn’t even read for it because I had been in LA for eight years, and the Grey’s Anatomy office was the hardest office to get into because everybody wanted to be on that show. And I was never seen. Never. I never had an audition. And then I moved to New York, and I get a taped audition for it. And, back then, I’m like, No one watches tapes. And I didn’t know anyone in New York. I called the one girl that I knew. I was like, “Girl, if you can film this by 9 a.m. tomorrow, I can send it in; if not, like, I’m just not gonna do it.” Luckily, she was available. We threw it on tape and then forgot about it. 

Then, two weeks later, they called me in and asked me to come in to play Levi. And at that point, it was just a one-episode guest spot thing. And then it turned into eight years of, you know, some of the most impactful storytelling we could have done. But I almost didn’t do it. I was like, There’s no way they’re gonna hire this awkward, skinny kid for Grey’s Anatomy, where it’s all, like, hot men. No way!

It’s wild to remember that Levi didn’t even come in as an intern at first, too. 

I was a med student. I wasn’t even attached to the thing. Also Jeanine Mason, who played Sam Bello, back in my intern class, she and I have been really good friends for, like, five years before that, in acting class, everything. She ends up booking an intern. And I have just done my one/two episodes. So, I was back in New York, and I was like, “Oh my God, you’re gonna love it. That set’s so fun.” And then I got pinned for the same episode, and I was like, Wait…am I an intern?! This is crazy! So that’s how I found out because I happened to know another girl who booked it. 

4. What was the last scene you filmed as Levi on Grey’s Anatomy?

The last scene I filmed was talking to that baby. 

Oh my gosh. No.

Telling the baby, “You know what? It’s gonna be all right. You’re gonna leave the hospital.” I was, like, Stab me with a knife. Jeez. It was just me and a baby, staring straight into the camera. It was so sad. And, like, all the crew was lining up because they were all gonna clap me out and say goodbye and shower me with love and all that stuff.

5. And do you remember what the very first scene you filmed was?

It was me walking into the ER with those other “sub-i’s,” the med students. And Levi raises his hand, asks Webber a question. And then Sarah Drew’s character comes in with a big, something medical coming in from the ambulances. And then there was an explosion of blood. 

I remember the props team had, like, pushed the blood too hard and it went everywhere. And I was like, Oh my god, this is the show I’m on. This is incredible. It was so wild.

6. Was there ever a Grey’s Anatomy storyline that you were absolutely stunned to find out about while reading a script?

I’ll go one further. Jaicy Elliot [Dr. Taryn Helm] and I, mid-pandemic, are watching the season premiere of Season 17 of Grey’s Anatomy live.

Oh god. I know where this is going. No way.

Mind you, we’ve read all the scripts. We’ve been in all the episodes. These folks lied to us. The script was Meredith talking to her dead mom. 

No way. OH MY GOD.

And all of a sudden, McDreamy runs down the beach. Jaicy and I lost our shit. We had no idea. And then subsequently, we had no idea that any of the other people were coming back. 

But then, at that point, we had tons of episodes filmed and done. The crew kept it a secret. A total secret. No one went to that beach unless you were dead. So, no one knew. It was wild. So, none of those characters are coming back. Every single script was like her talking to Ellis. Jaw-dropped. 

7. Did you get to keep anything from the Grey’s Anatomy set after you wrapped filming?

They give us a box of stuff they’ve done. They’ve done it since when Sarah Drew and Jessica Capshaw left. They got those boxes, too, and stuff. And so in the back of my head, I was like, Are they going to give me a box, too? So there’s, like, a lab coat, and a stethoscope, stuff like that. And I asked them to print out this. It’s a blueprint of Levi’s basement. Isn’t that sweet? 

That’s so cute.

And maybe a couple of other gifts that I shouldn’t tell you about. Some that Debbie Allen [who plays Dr. Catherine Avery and is an executive producer] threw in there. 

8. Is there a Grey’s Anatomy character you wished Levi interacted with?

Yeah, and in fact, now that he’s going to Texas, I hope that, for some reason, Penny transferred to Texas. And they get to be together because I’m obsessed with Penny. I think she also has one of the coolest story arcs as a character. I think she is misunderstood. It wasn’t her fault.

I mean, she did give us one of the best Ellen Pompeo line readings with, “Perfect Penny killed my husband.”

Yes! So, Penny is in Texas with Levi. I’m down. 

9. What’s the last TV show you binge-watched?

The last show I binge-watched was Agatha All Along. 

It’s my current obsession. Kathryn Hahn. Aubrey Plaza. Joe Locke. Patti LuPone. Can’t get much better. 

I mean, gay, gay, gay. Thank you, Disney, for finally doing it. We’ve been waiting.

Since Grey’s is a lot of people’s comfort binge-watch show, do you have a long-running series you’re obsessed with?

I’m obsessed with Survivor, so I’m currently watching the current season. But I’ve seen every single episode more than twice. It’s wild. I’ll binge that show until the day I die.

10. Who was your celebrity crush growing up?

Oh, I mean, [laughing] I told people it was Emma Watson and Fergie. 

But who was it really? 

Yeah, because I was trying to stay in the closet. Casper the Friendly Ghost. I think was probably my literal crush as a kid. Simba. I mean, we’re talking all, like, animated characters.

And now it’s Charlie Hunnam. And Jonathan Bailey, but I hesitate to say that because I would actually marry him. I’ve tried to put feelers out in the Shondaland world…if anyone’s listening.

I mean, Jonathan Bailey in the Fiyero pants might kill me, too.

I can’t even. I am so excited for him in Wicked.

I’ve been listening to the Wicked soundtrack on repeat, too, because I’m waiting for the new one to come out. I don’t know if you’ve been listening to it recently, but it’s made for the time that we’re in right now. It’s making me cry. It’s making me angry. 

11. In your final Grey’s Anatomy episodes, Levi gets a great new love interest in James. How was it working with Michael Thomas Grant on this storyline?

Michael Thomas Grant is incredible. He’s so detailed and goes very in-depth on who these characters are [and] why they say what they say to one another. So we really got to craft this very whole, well-rounded queer relationship, even in the tight amount of episodes that we had to tell it. And then we also sort of got to reckon with that, where it’s like they, we know, just story beat-wise, they need to leave together, but how do we justify that in such a short period of time? 

I think that seeing two queer people specifically decide whether or not they take this big leap in love, it was such a really cool thing to witness as a queer audience member. I couldn’t have picked a better person to navigate it with than Michael.

12. Levi and Helm also get a very special goodbye moment in your penultimate episode. How has it been working with Jaicy Elliot over the years and building that friendship on screen?

Jaicy is my literal best friend in real life. My actual best friend. And we see each other almost every day. We talk every day. We’ve gone through so much together, just personally. We went through the pandemic together. She’s been very supportive in my life. And so it felt like an ending for the characters, but it never really felt like an ending for her and me. 

The table read was gut-wrenching. If they ever leak that video, I tell you what, because I was sobbing, and I was supposed to be the strong one in that scene, and I’d look over and Jaicy’s sobbing. I felt bad for everyone else watching us because we were having a moment.

13. Looking back, do you have a favorite Grey’s Anatomy guest star you got to work with?

The woman who played Judy Kemp. Lesley Boone. Lesley Boone, hands down, was one of my favorite guest stars to work with because it was early on in Levi’s time, and she sort of took me under her wing and was teaching me the ropes a little bit, and then she ended up coming back for multiple episodes. 

So, she and Levi became close. She really was just, like, a wonderful energy to have on set. I kept pitching for years that they would bring back the multiple liver storyline. I loved her. 

Honestly, our guest stars have been incredible. We’ll go months and months without seeing each other, except for at the table reads and stuff. And so a lot of times, our experience is who is our patient for that episode or group of episodes. So, I bonded with quite a few of the guest stars.

14. Do you have a favorite Levi storyline or moment? Or even one you’re surprised fans always want to talk to you about?

I’m surprised they have the confidence to come up and talk to me about Levi losing his virginity. It seems to be what everyone wants to talk about. And honestly, girl, I want to talk about it. 

It was one of THE most iconic Grey’s moments in recent years.

It was one of the coolest moments. It was such a Grey’s iconic moment. It was during the wind storm, and he had saved this guy. His glasses got ripped off. And then it was paired with this beautiful monologue about queerness and especially about coming out later in life and coming out to yourself later in life. That moment will stay forever in my mind. 

Also, the journey outside of the hospital that Owen and Levi take to find the lady with the golden blood and then it turns into this 200-car pileup. That was a big moment for me because it also continued this blood storyline and how connected Levi is with blood. He starts terrified of blood. It makes him faint. He then becomes a hero by donating his blood mid-surgery. 

He finds this golden blood, and then later, we realize, as an audience, that now that he’s queer, his universal donor blood is useless, according to the medical field. And so that whole big storyline is something I’m very, very proud of.

15. And finally, have you ever caught someone watching Grey’s Anatomy in public?

I’ve seen people watching it on flights. At a movie theater here in Los Angeles, I walked in — I forget what movie we were seeing — but on the three big screens behind the bar, they were watching a Grey’s Anatomy episode of mine. Actually, it was the golden blood episode! That’s so wild, actually. 

And I went up with my ex at the time, and we got drinks from the bar, and it was just, like, this awkward moment. 

Did they recognize you?

Oh yes, they did. And they did not change it.