Levi Schmitt

Levi has lived in Seattle for an undisclosed amount of time with his mother, specifically in her basement. Growing up, Levi was in the debate club and spent most of his time playing Dungeons and Dragons rather than socializing with his peers. He also struggled to adapt socially due to his mother's over protective tendencies and neuroticism. Due to his mother's constant worrying, Levi developed an issue with his self-confidence and clumsiness which interfered with his everyday life by preventing him from working to the best of his abilities.

Eventually, Levi decided to attend medical school and managed to finish in the top 10% of his medical school program. It was at this point he decided to remain living in his mother's basement due to the high cost of medical school. Levi comes from a close Jewish family. They decided to help him get through medical school by contributing money and thus remain heavily invested in his career choices.

Levi first arrived at Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital as part of a clerkship group doing a rotation as a way for Richard Webber and April Kepner to evaluate their performance before giving them an official interview for an internship. After an interview with Webber and Miranda Bailey, Grey Sloan decided to offer him an internship. His family eventually gave him the green light to complete his internship there due to its reputation of producing highly skilled surgeons. He befriended other interns such as Taryn Helm, Casey Parker and Dahlia Qadri.

Upon arriving for his clerkship at Grey-Sloan, Levi and the rest of the fourth-year med students were greeted by Webber, who gave them a tour of the hospital. Levi got the opportunity to observe Jo Wilson's surgery only to have his glasses slip from his face and fall inside the patient when he leaned over the body cavity. After this incident Levi earned the nickname "Glasses" due to his clumsiness. Levi and the other sub-interns were then tasked with finding a suitable donor to repair Megan Hunt's abdomen, a procedure led by Meredith Grey. Levi was the only one who managed to find a donor and went to Jo for help on how to approach the family. However, Jo took credit for the finding and got to scrub in. Eventually, Schmitt was able to get an interview for an internship at Grey Sloan and was accepted into the program by Dr. Webber and Dr. Bailey. By this time he had acquired an elastic band to keep his glasses intact with his face; he rejected the idea of getting contacts due to his ommetaphobia. One of his most notable surgeries included assisting Dr. Grey on a splenectomy. Grey was unable to retrieve the rare blood type of O negative from the hospital's blood bank due to a hacker holding Grey Sloan's computer software hostage until a ransom was paid. Schmitt volunteered to do a blood transfusion due to having the same blood type and was credited with saving the patient's life. This incident earned him the new nickname "Blood Bank."

Schmitt later gets the opportunity to assist on a surgery involving a severe open femur fracture. Jackson Avery and Owen Hunt led the case and were joined by a talented orthopedic surgeon, Atticus Lincoln, and his orthopedic fellow, Nico Kim, who were new doctors at Grey-Sloan. During surgery, Levi was left flustered when Nico winked at him. Later that night, Nico bought him a beer at Joe's Bar and subtly flirted with him, leaving Schmitt more confused and questioning his sexuality. The following weeks, Nico took an interest in Levi but wasn't sure if the feeling was mutual due to Schmitt not reciprocating his advances. However, Schmitt was indeed interested just nervous due to the fact that he had never dated anyone before, much less a man. After assisting Dr. Lincoln and Nico on a surgery, Levi found himself alone in the elevator with Nico and the two shared their first kiss. However, Nico was taken back by Levi's revelation that he had never kissed a man before. Not wanting to relive the "shame spiral" and his coming out experience again, Nico abruptly ended things with him, much to Levi's disappointment. A week later, a severe windstorm hit Seattle, which left Nico and Levi to work together to evacuate the hospital's clinic. Levi, who was still hurt by Nico's actions, was bitter and confrontational. Levi put his emotions aside after witnessing Nico get blown away by a gust of wind, mildly injuring him. The two sought refuge in an abandoned ambulance as Levi tended to Nico's wounds. While waiting out the storm, Levi took the opportunity to stand up to Nico and refute any possibility of a shame spiral. Levi admitted that he never knew he was gay when he was younger because he never got the opportunity to explore his feelings due to always secluding himself and not having enough confidence to do anything about it until he met Nico. Touched by his speech, Nico kissed Levi again and the two then had sex for the first time.

As his relationship with Nico flourished, Levi began to feel more confident in his abilities as a doctor. Levi was then tasked to intubate Dr. Hunt after he was accidentally injected with a sedative during surgery. Andrew DeLuca guided Schmitt during his first intubation and successfully placed the tube. He was then put in charge of monitoring Dr. Hunt as he waited for the sedative to wear off. After successfully extubating Owen, Levi introduced himself as Dr. Schmitt to Teddy Altman rather than one of his nicknames. Wanting to look as confident as he felt, Levi decided to start wearing contacts. For the next couple months, Levi and Nico slept together continuously throughout the hospital. Riding on this momentum, Levi proudly came out as gay to Meredith, Andrew and Jo during surgery, who responded by congratulating him. He also earned the respect of other doctors such as Arizona Robbins and Dr. Bailey. However, Nico became upset after Levi refused to let his mother know about him due to his mother's neuroticism. Not yet ready to tell his mother that he was dating a man, Nico came to accept it. Levi then confessed his love for Nico. Afterwards, Nico told Levi that he had an interview with a hospital in San Francisco, which worried Levi about the future of their relationship. That same day, Nico made a fatal error during surgery which ultimately led to the first death of one of his patients and took out his frustrations on Levi. Going out of his way to buy Nico flowers at a local flower shop, Levi met Lucas Ripley, the fire chief of the Seattle Fire Department. The two bonded while deciding which flowers to buy for their significant others. While leaving the flower shop, Levi came across Ripley laying on the sidewalk unconscious and immediately got him to Grey Sloan. Schmitt was hailed a hero for saving the fire chief, however, Ripley's condition was found to be worse than previously thought and ultimately died. Nico eventually realized he mistreated Levi and later apologized. The two reconciled after Nico finally opened up about his feelings and personal struggles. That same night, Levi invited Nico over and came out to his mother by introducing him as his boyfriend.

After officially beginning his residency at Grey-Sloan, Levi struggled with self-doubt by constantly putting himself down. With the help of Nico, Levi worked to overcome these obstacles, including his difficult relationship with his mother, Myrna. Things became worse for Levi when Meredith was fired from Grey-Sloan for insurance fraud and he was subpoenaed in order to give a witness testimony at her court hearing. He told the prosecutor that he reported what he thought was an error in a patient's hospital bracelet who had the name Ellis Grey, Meredith's deceased mother. Upon realizing that Levi was indirectly responsible for Meredith getting fired, the other residents began to shun and ridicule him. Eventually, Levi finally finds the courage to stand up to his mother after visiting his dying uncle Saul, who also turned out to be gay. Levi moves out of his mother's basement immediately, feeling she isn't accepting of who he is. Levi and Nico ultimately hit a rough patch in their relationship when Levi begins to feel a lack of an emotional connection after Nico doesn't ask him to move in with him. However, Nico seems content with the physical aspect of their relationship and wants things to proceed at a slower pace much to Levi's frustration. Wanting to meet his family, Levi is stunned after Nico reveals he still hasn't come out to them. Feeling lied to, Levi begins to doubt his relationship with Nico, who he feels isn't treating him as an equal or sacrificing anything for him. After Link recommends Nico to the Seattle Mariners for his old job as team doctor, Levi worries that the two will grow further apart. Levi vents his concerns to Nico who in return breaks up with him feeling he can't give Levi the emotional connection he seeks. Reeling over his breakup, Levi is comforted by Jo who asks him to be her roommate after her divorce from Alex.

The character of Levi has received positive reviews from critics and fans alike. Jasmine Blu of TV Fanatic commented on his character saying "he's always been one of my favorite of the newbies. He's so endearing and has such a heartfelt story, and I think he touches people a great deal" and also referred to him as a "fan-favorite". Blu also went on to say that Schmitt was "so lovable and relatable because he's just, his awkwardness and all of that, I think it is still very real and relatable."[14] Taylor Henderson of Pride Magazine said Levi has been "openly embraced" by Grey's Anatomy viewers and has "quickly built a fanbase of his own" in response to Levi's monologue in the episode "Blowin' in the Wind", character growth and romance with Nico Kim.[19]

Levi's coming out storyline in "Blowin' in the Wind" received praise from critics. Jasmine Blu of TV Fanatic applauded Levi for embracing his sexuality saying he "has come into his own though. Words cannot describe how refreshing it is to see him stand up for himself."[20] Ariana Romero of Refinery29 called Levi's coming out moment "a landmark queer love scene" and also noted he was a "rising fan-favorite."[21] Marko Pekic of Spoiler TV called Borelli's performance a "phenomenal interpretation of Schmitt [that] was heartbreaking and empowering at the same time."[22]

Criticism has been directed towards the slow background development in Levi's storyline. However, for the episode "The Last Supper", Meaghan Frey of TV Fanatic praised the insight into Levi's Jewish roots calling his story "touching and exactly what he needed. It made me so much more invested in his character." Frey also lauded a scene where Levi stood up to his mother who struggles to fully accept him. Jasmine Blu also praised the writers for delving deeper into Levi's Jewish background, stating "I loved that the show explored his faith in addition to showing how far he has come in embracing who he is." Paul Dailly of TV Fanatic also reacted positively, saying "it was intriguing, and giving backstory to one of the better characters on the show was needed. Grey's Anatomy excels in character development, and I could watch more episodes about Levi's past."[23]