- "Grey's Anatomy" star Jake Borelli reflected on his most important storylines on the show so far.
- He also revealed how the cast said goodbye to Ellen Pompeo while filming her last episode as a series regular.
Jake Borelli's "Grey's Anatomy" character Dr. Levi Schmitt has come a long way since his early days at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital when he dropped his glasses onto a patient's intestines during surgery. This season — the show's 19th — he's the overworked chief resident in charge of the new class of interns now that Ellen Pompeo's character Meredith Grey has exited.
He knows his sexuality now, and since his ex-boyfriend Nico Kim (Alex Landi) has gone off to be a doctor for the Seattle Mariners, Levi has found a new love interest in a traveling nurse named Carlos (Calvin Seabrooks).
Borelli recently spoke with Insider about whether there's hope for Nico and Levi's relationship, how the cast said goodbye (for now) to Pompeo, and if fans can expect any beloved former cast members to return in season 19.
On Levi's romantic future and his most impactful storylines:
I know Nico and Levi have broken up, but I can't believe that Nico will be away from Grey Sloan forever. What can you tell me about this new love triangle Levi is in the middle of now that he's met Carlos?
Well, I don't know if it's a full-on triangle because Nico has sort of been out of the picture for so long. I guess it's a big question mark whether he is still around in Seattle. I know Link's (Chris Carmack) character said that he's traveling around with the Mariners, so we'll see if he pops back in. But right now, we are definitely canoodling with the traveling nurse Carlos, who I love.
"Grey's" has told a few abortion stories this season in the wake of Roe vs. Wade being overturned. Your character was involved in a storyline featuring a character who had a medical abortion. Can you reflect on what it feels like to be a part of such culturally important conversations on TV?
I think people need these stories to show how different and complex the situation is. At the beginning of the season, we talked so much as a group about the stories that we wanted to tell surrounding abortion and medical abortions, especially. And we even changed the color of the OB scrubs from pink to black because this is a warrior moment. It's a culture war. And I think personally, I think we do need to fight for autonomy with your body and the right to choose.
Speaking of culturally important stories, in the season 18 finale, during Grey Sloan's blood shortage, Levi brings awareness to the fact that men who have sex with men and their partners can't currently donate blood under FDA guidelines unless they abstain from sex for three months. As a gay man, what did that plot mean to you?
I've been pitching the concept for years because my character started out with the nickname Blood Bank. He literally gave his blood during a surgery to save a patient and was almost — not forced to — but it was thrust upon him. And then now here we are a couple of years later, he's not allowed to give blood simply because he's queer. It's not based in any sort of science we have around blood testing and around blood donation. It's simply an artifact of this homophobic AIDS epidemic.
I wish we would've talked about it more at the beginning of this season because, frankly, the blood ban didn't go away. And I think there's still room to talk about it again. But even that storyline especially was hard for me because I wanted to get it right so badly because the ban itself changed from a one-year abstinence policy where queer men had to abstain from sex for one year before they could donate blood. And during the pandemic, it changed to three months because they needed our blood. It's so hypocritical, and so, it pisses me off so much.
On Ellen Pompeo's exit and the future of 'Grey's':
When Ellen Pompeo shot her last scene as a series regular, did the cast and crew throw a party for her or give her a send-off?
The last scene that I shot with her was coincidentally the cheers-ing her off with all the champagne in the lobby. That was with most of the cast too. Linda Klein is our main medical advisor, and she was there in the shot too, playing Nurse Linda. She was standing right next to me, and we had shot from all these different angles, and then all of a sudden, there was a camera on the left and a camera on the right, both looking at Ellen.
And I turned to Linda, and I was like, "Linda, what are we even shooting?" And she was like, "Shh, don't worry about it." And then they call action, Ellen comes out to start doing her thing. It was a big surprise moment for all of us. And Debbie Allen came out, and Krista Vernoff came out, and there was a singer there who, like, sang this fun parody song. So we had a big celebration then.
What would you say to people who are hesitant to continue watching or don't think "Grey's" can go on without Ellen?
I would say there are so many characters that I've loved for years and years being a fan of the show, who we still get to see come back. And I feel like it would be a disservice to let that go. And "Grey's" has always been a revolving door of people leaving and frankly, people coming back. That's what the story is about to me more than anything now. It's seeing how these doctors come and go from this hospital and live their lives and do their work, and you need young people to teach. And you need OG badass surgeons to learn from, and that is what "Grey's" is.
Since we're talking about people leaving and people returning, I think Catherine Fox [Debbie Allen] is going to die this season because her cancer is back, which makes me sad. But does that mean her son Jackson Avery [Jesse Williams] and his partner April Kepner [Sarah Drew] will return to say goodbye?
Hypothetically, if Catherine Fox dies, then, of course, Jackson Avery and April Kepner would come back, but that's if. Her son and her daughter-in-law would have to come back.
Last time we talked, you teased the season 18 finale pretty well. Do you know anything about it yet?
We have a handful of episodes to film before we even start talking about the finale. And to be honest, we've sort of all been kept in the dark too, because it really does feel like a pilot again.
I'm telling you. I think Catherine Fox is going to die.
That's what you think the finale's going to be? Actually...You know what? That is pretty juicy. I truly don't know. And so now I'm just running the numbers as a fan with you right now. I'm like, "Huh."
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
"Grey's Anatomy" airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.