‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Jake Borelli Talks Coming Out And Playing Gay On TV

Grey's Anatomy is full of new faces nowadays. With new characters come new storylines, new drama, and new hot scenes between even hotter actors. I'm here for every bit of it.

Jake Borelli, who plays Dr. Levi "Glasses" Schmidt on the hit show, is already experiencing his first rendezvous with another character. In an elevator scene, Borelli shares a kiss with fellow castmate Alex Landi (Dr. Nico Kim) - which no one saw coming. Shortly after, the 27-year-old took to his own social media to come out in real life. I guess this is art imitating life... sort of?

 

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What a month... 🙃And it keeps getting better. SO honored to be on the cover of @gaytimesmag ✨Talking about all things Grey's, representation, and moving forward on this wild new ride. (Guys, I'm freaking out! Bahhh) Get your copies now! #LinkInBio • Photography: @grayhamner Fashion: @proudhomowner Grooming: @scottkinghair Words: @samdamshenas

A post shared by Jake Borelli (@jake.borelli) on Nov 23, 2018 at 1:03pm PST

Borelli says that since coming out, he's received so many messages from fans that he can't keep up.

"I sat there for like four hours and some of them were heartbreaking, and some of them were filled with joy and excitement," Borelli shared in an interview with Gay Times. "It was beautiful to see how brave all of the fans were being with sharing their story. It truly felt like we were doing this together."

Having LGBTQ+ representation isn't anything new to Grey's Anatomy, which is on its 15th season. It was the lack of prior knowledge of Borelli's character's sexuality that ignited the shock from fans. There's a lesson to be learned, though.

 

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Tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy is without a doubt the proudest I've been of any episode of television I have ever done. If you get a chance, please watch! Thanks @therealkmckidd for directing this beast like a boss, and a huge shout out to Meg Marinis, Krista Vernoff and the rest of the writing team for your beautiful words. Catch #GreysAnatomy tonight at 8/7c on #ABC.

A post shared by Jake Borelli (@jake.borelli) on Nov 15, 2018 at 3:51pm PST

"You probably shouldn’t assume anything about anybody’s sexuality because I assumed he was straight," says Borelli. "I would say he doesn’t even know yet at this point. He’s still learning, he’s still grappling with his own sexuality."

As for going forward, Borelli says he hopes the writers take the Schmidt/Kim romance seriously and embrace it fully.