Jake Borelli Was “Heartbroken” Over ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Departure News: “It Was Pretty Devastating”

[This story contains major spoilers from Grey’s Anatomy season 21, episode seven, “If You Leave.”]

Grey’s Anatomy has said farewell to yet another beloved doctor.

The hit medical drama set up Levi Schmitt’s (Jake Borelli) departure in last week’s episode when Monica Beltran (Natalie Morales) put him up for a pediatric research job in Texas since his ABSITE scores were not high enough to get him a peds fellowship at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

This week, the seventh episode in season 21, wrapped up Schmitt’s storyline in Seattle. He said farewell to best friends Taryn Helm (Jaicy Elliot) and Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington), got a premature baby ready to graduate from the neonatal intensive care unit, and helped his residents cope with Mika Yasuda’s (Midori Francis) injuries following a traumatic car accident. In one of their final conversations in the episode, Jo and Levi have an emotional moment, looking back on their meeting and eventual sleeping together that led to the friendship they have today, and Jo asking him to be the godfather to her twins.

The final loose end to tie up for Schmitt was his new relationship with Grey Sloan chaplain, James (Michael Thomas Grant). While the two had seemingly settled on long distance, all it takes is one conversation with Jo for Levi to realize he doesn’t want to do long distance, so he asks James to move with him because he is falling in love.

“That’s the relationship he’s been wanting for for so long and, even more important, I think staying would have been very easy for Levi,” Borelli tells The Hollywood Reporter about his final Grey’s Anatomy episode. “I’m so glad that he chose [to leave] for himself, and then I’m so glad that the pieces fell in place regarding James. That was a big moment for me to see him finally choosing something for himself.”

Showrunner Meg Marinis previously told THR that the series would honor Levi’s growth in his final episode. “If you just remember how we introduced Levi, he was a young intern in glasses who had no idea what he was doing. I think people will be happy to see that he’s really discovered himself in seven years, not just as a person but as a doctor, and you will really see that being honored,” she said.

Now, the actor opens up about that growth. He talks about how he was “heartbroken” when finding out about his departure, especially to be leaving the queer-positive show in this political climate, his similarities with Levi — like coming out at the same time both onscreen and off (“I had to muster up some sort of like Levi courage to do that,” he says) — and whether or not a Texas spinoff should be in Grey’s Anatomy’s future.

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I watched the screener for Levi’s final episode. I was so sad.

I was sad filming it, so I know where you’re coming from. (Laughs)

It’s been amazing to see how far he’s come since being that intern who dropped glasses into an open body during surgery. Talk to me about his journey. What has that been like for you?

Gosh, 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. You can really spend a lot of time with people and watch them change over time. And so I’m just so proud of how far Levi’s come and how vulnerable and courageous he’s been, and how that has led to his success and sort of catalyzed his success. So yeah, he’s been fun to watch over the years.

How has it been growing with the character over these last seven years?

I certainly owe a lot of my own growth to Levi. He and I are quite similar, I think, by design, too. And so a lot of what his growth has been on the show really has mirrored my own life. I mean, even just us coming out. I came out publicly around the same time that he was coming out on the show, and I had to muster up some sort of like Levi courage to do that. It was pretty terrifying at the time, but it’s opened up my life in similar ways as it’s opened up his. I’ve become a lot more confident myself, a lot more sure of what I want to bring to the world and who I want to be in all sorts of facets of my life.

How has it been playing someone who is so similar to you on a show as popular as this one?

I mean, it’s wild, because, like life, you have no idea what’s coming next. I was never able to anticipate what the scripts were going to be. There was something interesting about getting to practice life through Levi and getting to give him some of the qualities of myself that I wanted to grow and wanted to value, like his sweetness and his bravery and his open-heartedness. Getting to see him do it definitely encouraged me to do it more in my life.

What were your thoughts when you first found out that Levi would be leaving Grey Sloan?

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. 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.

But once we pushed past that, and I started sitting down with Meg [Marinis], the showrunner, and we were trying to figure out just how to close a story this big and a character this well-rounded, I think what we came up with was incredible. Because it is, for lack of a better term, a happy ending and his confidence did grow out of his queerness. I think what we have of Levi right now is such a full, wonderful, queer human being that I would have dreamed to see as a kid. So I have no regrets at this point, but I would love to see him come back. I would love to see how Texas changed him, and I would love to see him step more fully into his power. So we’ll see. Fingers crossed. I think there’s an open an open door in the future.

I have talked to Meg and Debbie [Allen], and there certainly is want for Levi to come back in and want for Levi to be a part of some experiences that the characters are going to have in the future.

How does it feel to be saying farewell to a character you’ve played for so long?

It’s wild, and I’m in the middle of it, honestly, and I have no idea… I don’t even know who to ask for advice. I mean, I think a lot of people can relate to it, in just that we do things for huge parts of our lives and then those things end, and we have to figure out how to grieve it and move on. And I’m sort of in the middle of that process. I had a dinner with Sarah Drew and Jessica Capshaw and Camilla [Luddington] and Stefania Spampinato. Getting to hear their perspectives was really, really nice. I think it’s different for everyone, and I’m just gonna try my best. I’ll just re-binge Grey’s a third time.

There’s definitely a wealth of people you could turn to who have left Grey’s. So many have come and gone.

The funny thing is, I feel like I haven’t even left because, after this interview, I’m literally going back to set, because I’m shadowing the directors on set. Debbie Allen has become a mentor of mine, and I just got off shadowing her a month ago, and now I’m shadowing Allison Liddi-Brown. I’m going to the table read today. So I really feel like I haven’t left. I’m just watching from behind the scenes.

Let’s talk specifically about Levi’s ending. How did you feel when you first read the script about where he was going to end up?

In terms of the last couple of scripts, when the goodbyes were coming through, that was pretty tough, and it was interesting to see how each relationship affected him differently and how each relationship was closing out. The goodbye scene with him and Taryn [Helm] was a tough one because Jaicy Elliot is truly my best friend in real life, and so that very much mirrored some of our own feelings that we were having, and it was kind of brutal to be onstage, playing Levi, telling his friend that they’re still going to be friends, even though they’re not working together, and then also looking into Jaicy’s eyes and us both knowing that there’s no way we’re not gonna be friends. So it was pretty meta, honestly, but I think it was very fitting for Levi. And then the fact that we see him finally in a relationship that is good, that is not toxic, that’s based on communication, and that is clearly going to lead to something fulfilling, enough so that they take the big leap and move to Texas together. That was really important for me. When Meg told me that’s where we were going, I was very excited.

There was a moment where it felt like James (Michael Thomas Grant) maybe wasn’t going to go with him, and they were going to try long distance, and it was going to be hard. How do you think it felt for Schmidt to see that this man he’s falling for is choosing him in such a definitive way?

Oh, I think it’s massive. That’s the relationship he’s been wanting for so long and, even more important, I think staying would have been very easy for Levi. He’s lived in Seattle his whole life. His mom lived there. His entire network is there. His new boyfriend is there, and the harder thing for him was having to make that decision, that, “Look, these things can all remain, and I can fulfill what I think my destiny is, and I can take this big leap for myself.” And I’m so glad that he chose that for himself, and then I’m so glad that the pieces fell in place regarding James, but that was a big moment for me to see him finally choosing something for himself.

There was another moment in last week’s episode where Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Webber (James Pickens Jr.) were trying to sway Levi to stay by offering him an attending spot. Why do you think he was so torn in choosing these two things?

She offered him one of his dreams on a silver platter. I mean, the dark blue scrubs, being an attending at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. When I read that as an actor, I was like, “Wait! Why is he going to Texas? What’s going on? This is too good.” So, of course, it would be hard for him. But then we had that little moment with him and Ofelia, and Ofelia reminded him of all these kids he had saved over the last eight seasons, and all of the people that through his vulnerability he was able to connect with. I think that was the big shake for him to say, “You know what? No. This would be a comfortable, wonderful experience to stay, but I might need to step out into the world a little bit.”

Levi’s formed beautiful relationships with so many of the doctors at Grey Sloan, like Bailey (Wilson), Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), who’s not technically at Grey Sloan anymore, Helm (Elliot) and Jo (Luddington). How do you think the rest of them will fare without him?

I think they’re all gonna cry for like, seven episodes. (Laughs) No, I don’t know. I mean, look, we saw with Jo that that’s not the end of the friendship for him and Jo. So I think they’re gonna stay together forever. She’s going to be flying her twins to Texas, or whatever. Levi’s going to come back for the [Jewish] High Holidays and hang out with Jo. So I think it’s gonna be OK. I’m more worried about Mika (Midori Francis) under that car, honestly. [Note: Francis is also exiting this season.]

Jo did ask Levi to be the godfather to her twins. Why do you think that hit him so hard?

I’ve experienced it personally with my nieces and getting to see them grow up, and getting to see how close I am to them. I know Levi wants that, and I’m so glad that Jo sees that. It’s Jo’s sort of stamp of approval, that “I want you in my kids lives. I need you to teach my kids what you know. I trust you to be a father figure to them.” That’s massive, especially for a queer person, to hear that you’re accepted fully as who you are, and I think it’s massive in the political climate we’re in right now where people are trying to villainize queer people, trying to separate them from children. I think it’s terrifying. And so to see someone that we know and love like Levi and to understand that he would be a great father, and to see that through Jo’s actions is incredible.

Levi’s departure leaves, like you mentioned, that kind of queer hole in Grey’s. How are they going to fill that? What do you think is the next move?

It does feel like there’s a hole with with me and Midori leaving. These are two incredibly well-rounded queer characters played by incredible queer people, and that’s going to be hard to fill. I don’t know what their plan is. I’m excited to see. I hope they continue putting their shoulders behind queer storylines. It was an interesting summer to go through with Midori, and we’ve talked about it a bunch. But the show has always really put their shoulder behind representation and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

There also may be something there with Beltran (Natalie Morales) and Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone). Though it’s unclear. What do you think is the biggest lesson Levi is going to take from Grey Sloan into this next chapter in his life?

That if you have the courage to be vulnerable and to lean further into who you actually are, the world will open itself up to you. Your life will be better for it and your relationships will be more authentic because of it.

What about for you, as Jake? What is the biggest lesson you’re going to take from your time on the show?

Honestly, that no dream is too big. I dreamt of being an actor my entire life, but I never thought I would be a part of something like this, something so big and so iconic and so needle-moving as Grey’s. And then it happened, and that was wild, and it shook me to the core, to the point where I didn’t even know what to do next and how to continue dreaming past that. I need to continue reminding myself that nothing is too big to dream for.

What are you looking forward to in the next stage of your career?

I’ve started leaning further and further into the directing world, especially with my Grey’s family. Grey’s really showed me how important it is for queer people to tell queer stories. So, I would love to direct some queer films that are in the pipeline right now, and I’ve been sort of waiting for a moment to be scheduled free to do. So that’s certainly one of the next chapters, really figuring out what sort of stories I want to tell, and then putting them on their feet and figuring out how to get them out into the world.

When you look back at your time as Levi, what are some of your best memories?

Oh my gosh. One that comes to mind is my intern class. We were all like, in a six-banger trailer, and we were all in there together, and the article came out announcing us as the new intern class, and none of us knew it was coming. I remember that was a massive moment, because we all came into the show together — me, Jaicy, Jeanine [Mason], Sophia [Taylor Ali], all of them. Getting to share that moment together like, “hey, maybe we made it” was kind of crazy. Going through the pandemic was horrible, obviously, but it bonded the cast in a way that I was not expecting. I have family in them forever, so that’s really massive. Then also seeing the crew sort of circle around me in the last few episodes and really show their love, and also open up their doors for me to come in as a shadow and learn from them has been incredible.

Jake, I’m sad to see you go, but hopefully, you’ll be back.

Fingers crossed. I think there’s a lot more story there, so we’ll see absolutely — maybe a spinoff in Texas. I’m pitching very quietly behind the scenes. My working title is Holy Schmitt.

Grey’s Anatomy airs every Thursday on ABC at 10 p.m.