With a long-running show like Grey’s Anatomy, which has been an ABC staple for two decades and counting, there’s bound to be a revolving door of past characters returning to the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial. Over the years, fans have enjoyed old friends popping in from time to time, like Kate Walsh, Patrick Dempsey, and more, but season 22 will welcome back Jake Borelli — with a twist.
As reported by Deadline, Borelli will make his Grey’s Anatomy return in season 22, not as his beloved character Dr. Levi Schmitt but as a director behind the camera. He’s not the first former cast member to take a step offscreen to helm an episode, and he definitely won’t be the last. However, it’s exciting for fans that Borelli will be back at Grey’s, in any capacity, since his exit.
Borelli will direct Grey’s Anatomy season 22 episode 16, which is titled “Feel It Still” and airs on Thursday, April 2, 2026. He’s been confirmed to no be present onscreen as an actor. The episode marks not only Borelli’s directorial debut on Grey’s but also his television directorial debut in general. What better place to begin a career in directing than the show you called home for over 100 episodes?
In the episode, Borelli will have the opportunity to be at the helm of an exciting development for Jo, who was one of Levi’s great friends. In “Feel It Still,” Jo comes back for her first day back to work from her leave of absence following the emergency C-section of her twins and her case of peripartum cardiomyopathy. As exciting as it would be to have Levi share a scene with Jo, it’s even more special that Borelli gets to be behind the camera.
Before he left the series, Borelli spoke with Deadline back in November 2024 and actually mentioned how he has been steadily building to this moment during his time on the show. Even though he never directed an episode while he was a series regular, Borelli had been looking to other directors on set to learn the rope before stepping into the director’s chair himself.
“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,” he shared with Deadline.
Borelli first joined the cast as Dr. Levi Schmitt in Grey’s Anatomy season 14 and recurred throughout that season and the next before becoming a series regular in season 16. He remained a part of the main cast through the halfway point of season 21, leaving in the seventh episode, “If You Leave.” Borelli’s exit was a means for the series to cut production costs.
While the November 2024 marked his official final episode as a series regular, Borelli quickly reprised his role later on in the second to last episode of season 21 for Jo’s wedding. Since leaving Grey’s, Borelli hasn’t acted in any major project, though he kept busy last summer making his directorial debut on his short film IGNIS.
