After Grey’s Anatomy said goodbye to Dr. Levi Schmitt in Thursday’s episode, Jake Borelli is revealing if a return is in his future. The actor joined the long-running ABC medical drama in a recurring role in Season 14 as part of Grey Sloan’s new crop of interns. He was officially upped to series regular for Season 16, and right before fans’ eyes, grew from Glasses to the lovable and out Dr. Schmitt.
When it was announced earlier this year that Borelli would be exiting in Season 21, it was definitely a shock. As for Levi’s closing story, after trying to decide what to do with the rest of his life, he accepted a job in Texas, moving down south with boyfriend, Grey Sloan’s new Chaplain played by Michael Thomas Grant. Grey’s has seen former characters come back into the fold over the years, no matter how brief, and even if it might be too early to hope for Levi’s return, Borelli told Deadline that he’s “very hopeful” it will happen.
“I think the audience is interested to see what Levi is up to, I certainly am,” Borelli shared. “He has so many connections to people still at the hospital, like you said, Jo, so I couldn’t imagine the birth of those babies without Levi bending the world to get there. We’ll see what Meg [Marinis] does. I think we also have this wonderful opportunity to have him grow off-camera and then to have him come back at some point and really be this boss that we know he can be. We’ll see what’s in store for the future of the show.”
“What’s kind of crazy is it feels like I haven’t left because I’m still on set right now,” Borelli continued. “I’ve been shadowing Debbie Allen, our executive producer and director, for several years, and I’m still there. I’m shadowing Allison Liddi-Brown right now, our current director, so I still very much feel part of the world. These are relationships that I’ve cherished for so long and that I still have. I would love to hop back on camera, but maybe it’ll also be behind the scenes.”
It’s going to be hard to watch Grey’s Anatomy without Levi, and while the cast has seen quite a lot of people come and go over the years, it never gets easier. The fact that Jake Borelli is hopeful that fans haven’t seen the last of Levi that’s enough to keep fans hopeful as well. In the meantime, the fall finale airs this Thursday at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.