JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Jake Borelli Opens Up About Leaving Grey’s Anatomy After 7 Years Of Playing Levi Schmitt: 'I Was Heartbroken'
Jake Borelli shares how heartbroken he was upon leaving Grey's Anatomy after seven years of playing the role of Levi Schmitt.
Jake Borelli, who has played the role of Dr. Levi Schmitt on Grey’s Anatomy for seven seasons, has opened up about his grief about the character leaving his role behind. In the most recent episode, Levi bids farewell to his coworkers at Grey Sloan Memorial and takes a job in Texas that specializes in pediatric research. The seventh episode in season 21 marks the end of Schmitt's journey on the show as of now.
An emotional farewell with Jo Wilson, played by Camilla Luddington, marked the end of his character arc. From Borelli’s perspective, the hardest part of leaving Levi behind was his growth as a character as well as his queerness. He found it devastating and was heartbroken to bid farewell to such a queer-positive show.
He told The Hollywood Reporter, "Levi’s journey has been massive. I feel like he’s really come 180 since we saw him in the beginning. He’s grown a lot, which I think is something really cool about a show like Grey’s that’s on for so long."
Borelli, too, echoed how deeply Levi’s character connected with the audience, especially looking at the diversity of people who would identify with Levi and draw inspiration from his arc. He stated that the role being different and very significant for him, coupled with the current socio-political turbulence, made it that much more challenging to leave.
Borelli didn't hold back on his emotions as he told the outlet, "I was heartbroken. Honestly, it was pretty devastating, especially because I love him so much, and I see what this sort of representation on TV, especially on a show as big as Grey’s, has done to people all around the world."
Borelli believes that Levi’s self-acceptance and becoming the man and queer he is today fit the narrative that so many young girls or boys would have benefited from. As heartbroken as he is, Borelli counts himself lucky to have played such an incredible role as Levi’s and regrets nothing.
"I’m constantly hearing stories from queer people all around the world who either finally feel seen by this show or even parents of queer kids saying that they now finally have the language to talk to their kids about their queerness. And so, yeah, knowing that that story was gonna come to an end, especially in the political climate that we’re in right now, was tough," he added.
He added that he would love to see a scenario where Levi returns in his full glory as an evolved queer man. With a likely spinoff alongside an open window for his comeback, Jake Borelli is looking forward to hoping for the next plausible arc of Levi Schmitt.
Latest Articles
