Jake Borelli Reveals Reasons Behind ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Departure

Drama fans, brace yourselves! Jake Borelli’s last hurrah as Levi Schmitt on Grey’s Anatomy just aired, and the actor is finally breaking his silence on his exit from the iconic ABC series. After initial leaks about his departure surfaced at the end of season 20, Borelli returned for a brief stint in season 21 to tie up Levi’s storyline.

In his emotional final episode, Levi Schmitt said goodbye to Seattle, accepting a new job in Texas and taking his new boyfriend James (played by Michael Thomas Grant) along for the journey. Borelli revealed to Deadline that this exit wasn’t exactly his choice, implying it was more about the story’s direction.

“Essentially, me and my team got a call from the showrunner [Meg Marinis], and she told us that this was the route that they were thinking about taking for Levi — to round out his growth and to give him a place to be outside of Grey Sloan,” he said. “For the audience, to be able to see him grow, finally, into the doctor we’ve all known he could be.”

Though his time in season 21 was short, Borelli admitted he wanted more. “I certainly would have loved to have it stretched the whole season,” he confessed. “We knew the time period that we had… I would have loved for it to keep going forever, but we’ll see. Time will tell.”

But don’t lose hope just yet, Grey’s fans! Borelli isn’t shutting the door on future appearances as Levi. “I’m very hopeful that Levi will come back,” he said optimistically. “He has so many connections to people still at the hospital… I couldn’t imagine the birth of those babies without Levi bending the world to get there.” Borelli also teased that Levi’s off-camera growth could pave the way for an epic return. “We’ll see what’s in store for the future of the show.”

With Levi’s chapter closing (for now), it leaves us wondering: Will we see him again at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital? Only time will tell.