Jake Borelli: How Levi’s Journey on Grey’s Anatomy Mirrored His Own
Photo Courtesy of ABC
Grey’s Anatomy is known for taking its characters on a journey. One of the most enjoyable ones to watch these last few seasons is the arc of Dr. Levi Schmitt. He’s gone from the skittish intern first introduced in the Season 14 premiere (remember he dropped his glasses into a body that was being operated on?) to the openly gay resident finding his confidence both surgically and personally. Last season Levi embarked on a romance with Nico (Alex Landi) and the duo shared the show’s first gay kiss and steamy hook-up in an empty ambulance.
But the sixteenth season has been a rocky one for Levi. To his friends and colleagues’ outrage, he was the one who reported Meredith’s (Ellen Pompeo) insurance fraud which resulted in her being fired from the hospital and her medical license being suspended. In last night’s winter premiere, which was a crossover event with Station 19, Levi survived the latest crisis (this time a car crashing into the bar they all hang out in) and began the slow process of being forgiven by his friends.
Paste had a chance to talk to Jake Borelli, who plays Levi, about what’s coming up in the back half of Grey’s sixteenth season, what it means to play this groundbreaking character, and also his new Freeform movie The Thing About Harry, which premieres February 15.
Paste: Grey’s Anatomy is a show that is not afraid to kill off characters. How nervous were you when you learned about the disaster that would befall the doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital?
Jake Borelli: Oh my gosh it was terrifying. I’m a fan of the show too so I know all about the fears of people getting killed. I remember when they had the plane crash that was one of the most dramatic episodes ever, and this was our version of that. We actually filmed the Station 19 half of it way back in August. So we knew this disaster was coming. We just didn’t know exactly how it was going to resolve itself. We have been very curious who was going to come out unscathed and who was going to be in real danger. I was just as stressed out as the fans had been.
Paste: How has the whole experience changed Levi?
Borelli: Since Meredith’s trial he’s been on the outs and he hasn’t really had anyone to turn to so I think this was the catalyst for him sort of having this anxiety attack. He’s had no one to lean on and now he’s seen his friends in such peril and he doesn’t know if he’s good enough to face them yet. It’s been a lot. We’ve reached the hardest moment in his life. It’s going to be interesting to see how he copes with everything, and how the relationships with his friends stem from here. I think he’s learned a lot about himself. Anytime someone goes through an experience just like Levi has gone through in terms of the traumatic event of the car crash and seeing all his friends in danger, I think it really solidifies what’s important in your life and I think moving forward Levi is going to focus on that quite a bit. He’s really coming into his own right now.
Paste: What can you tell me about the future of his relationship with Nico?
Borelli: They’ve both taught each other so much. Levi has taught Nico quite a bit about being vulnerable and speaking from your heart and really knowing how you feel. Nico conversely has really taught Levi how to stand in his power, and has taught him a little bit more about being a better surgeon. They’re kind of perfect foils for each other at this point but it’s a classic Shondaland show. They shake things up all the time. I think we need to remember that these two are both very young. This is one of Levi’s first relationships ever. There’s bound to be ups and downs. Levi growing will either bring them together or highlight differences that they might have.
Paste: Levi and Nico are the show’s first romance between two male character, and they are groundbreaking in that their romance is treated the same as the show’s heterosexual ones with lots of drama and hospital hook-ups.
Borelli: Bingeing the show the past few years, the on-call room was such an iconic romance place. Watching it I always got excited to see my favorite characters hooking up. But I never felt like I could totally relate to it because it was always a guy and a girl or an awesome lesbian couple of something like that and never two young guys that I could totally see myself in. It’s super exciting to see myself mirrored back in a way that I never would have seen without having to translate it. Am I McDreamy in this situation? Or am I Meredith? Now I see I’m Eli. I get to hook up with the hot guy in the on-call room.