Levi Canning
Levi Canning is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Richie Morris. Morris auditioned for the role in early 2020 and successfully received the role of Levi, a police officer and replacement character for Gary Canning, as well as a new member of Kyle and Sheila Canning's family. Morris called his first day on set surreal and explained that wearing a police vest helped him get into character. Morris described Levi as very passionate, very cheeky and very charming, and noted that he takes his work seriously, but also loves his family. Levi first appeared on 15 June 2020 and quickly became involved in dramatic scenes and befriends Bea Nilsson. The character's epilepsy was used to explore his backstory.
Levi and Bea develop feelings for each other and producers swiftly introduced one of Levi's childhood attackers, Nathan Packard, who writers used as a plot device to establish a love triangle storyline. Levi and Bea finally begin dating afterwards but they break up the following year. Morris explained that the break-up was hard for Levi to process, who later suffers an accident caused by him trying to distract himself from the split. Producers then introduced Levi's other attackers, Mitch Foster and Nelson Ryker, who act unremorseful and taunt Levi, before a high-speed car chase results in a crash. Morris explained there was a lot of excitement and anxiety on the day of recording the crash.
Levi finds himself having feelings for Amy Greenwood, who also has feelings for Ned Willis. Ned openly suggests that they go into a polyamorous relationship together and they agree, which marked the serial's first polyamory relationship. The storyline develops into a rivalry between Levi and Ned, who both compete for Amy's time, and the relationship was unliked by fans, whilst one journalist questioned if the serial's portrayal of polyamory was executed correctly. Isabella Giovinazzo was then cast as Felicity Higgins, another roadblock for the polyamorous relationship, as Amy is opposed to Levi dating Felicity. Levi eventually breaks up with Amy and Felicity. Levi later meets Freya Wozniak, who manipulates Levi into liking her so she can find Gareth Bateman. Levi and Freya later confess their love for one another. Morris' final scenes aired on 28 July 2022 as part of the serial's finale episode. Levi got a mixed reception, but Morris' addition to the serial was seen as a good step in normalising diverse television casting. Morris reprised the role on 11 December 2025 for the final episodes of Neighbours.
Creation and casting
Producers created Levi as a new member of the serial's pre-established Canning family. He is Kyle Canning's cousin and Sheila Canning's grandson. The character was created to fulfill Gary Canning's spot, who had been killed off as part of the serial's 35th anniversary. In early 2020, executive producer Jason Herbison told Radio Times, "The Canning house will be quieter without Gary, but there are plans to populate the place with another member of the family soon." Morris' casting and the character's creation was announced by Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy on 4 June 2020. Morris said of his casting, "Being a part of the Cannings is so humbling because they are such a fun and iconic family on Ramsay Street, which provides not only loads of drama but also so much humour. I couldn't ask for more. Plus, I get to work and learn from both Chris and Colette, who I idolise." Morris auditioned for the role at 21 years old in early 2020 and secured the part, before relocating from Sydney to Melbourne to act on the serial in a regular capacity. Kilkelly reported that Morris trained at Sydney Theatre School and Sydney Film School, and had made appearances in theatre performances, short films and advertisements, and is also a "keen martial arts practitioner", having done boxing, kickboxing and judo. Morris said that he would be excited to implement martial arts into his acting. Whilst talking to HuffPost Australia, Morris, who is half-Nigerian half-Lebanese, reflected on the positive reactions from "culturally diverse" viewers to see a multicultural actor in the serial. He told the outlet, "It’s very humbling that I am able to come on set and provide a little diversity within the cast. I believe it is very important to have diversity on screens. When I moved to Australia, I was lucky enough to have amazing parents that taught me about what racism might look like and how to peacefully deal with it if it were to ever occur to me."Development
Characterisation and introduction
In a video posted to the serial's YouTube channel, Morris revealed that, following questioning from fans, he was the son of Frank Canning Jr., another character created, who is Sheila's son. Levi was raised by Frank Jr. and his wife, Jackie, who had been mentioned since the introduction of Levi's half-brothers, Dane Canning and Harley Canning. Morris explained on camera, "I noticed a lot of people online kept asking who Levi's parents were. Levi's dad is actually Frank Jr, he's Sheila's son and that's where I came from." Levi is introduced as Ramsay Street's new police officer and Morris teased that the character had a lot of secrets and told fans that they would "find out soon enough". Morris also admitted that wearing the police uniform helped him get into character and stated that "the physicality of things and even when I put the vest on, it's a completely different feeling and my shoulders go back and my head goes up." He also called wearing the uniform "transformative" on him. Morris explained that he "did a lot of research" on the police force in his own time to better portray his character. He also revealed that he spoke with Mann's son, who is an ex-cop, to help him better understand a police officer's job. Morris described his character as "very passionate, very cheeky, very charming and he takes his job very seriously, but he also loves his family and friends. He is very interesting." Morris also jokingly asked producers to give Levi some designer's clothes, similar to that of Hendrix Greyson.Morris first appeared on Australian screens as Levi on 15 June 2020. Kilkelly reported that he would have a "dramatic first week". Morris' first scene sees Levi "jokingly" pulls over Kyle, who is driving with Bea Nilsson and is "horrified" to get pulled over. When Kyle notices it is Levi, "his panic turns to relief" and he introduces Levi to Bea. Morris called his first scene "surreal" and said he was "nervous as" and "kept having to pinch" himself because he was in front of Mann and Milligan. Kilkelly also explained that Levi "doesn't get the warmest of welcomes from Sheila" and that Ramsay Street residents would be "speculating over why". Kilkelly suggested that "one possibility is that Sheila could hold a grudge because Levi was conceived when her son Frank Jr had an affair." Levi explains that the force has relocated him to Erinsborough and Kyle asks their grandmother if Levi can move in, but Sheila is "reluctant" to agree, however bosses later announced that Levi would be moving into the street within a month. Levi also helps Toadie Rebecchi track down Andrea Somers, who has kidnapped their son, and "classic" dramatic scenes see Levi arrest Andrea. Levi also kisses Kyle's love interest, Roxy Willis. Roxy plays "strip dart" with Levi and pours a drink over him when he refuses to take his shirt off, resulting in the two kissing. Kyle forgives him when he finds out Levi was unaware of his feelings towards Roxy. Within his first month of appearances, Morris said, "I've received some really loving fan messages that I'm also very thankful for."
Epilepsy
Levi decides to help Kyle clean up the island that Gary was killed on, and Levi helps Bea with the cleaning, before having a seizure in front of her. He stops Bea from finding help and explains that he has epilepsy, "a neurological condition that affects the brain and can lead to seizures and unusual behaviour". Levi "begs" Bea not to tell anyone and admits that his family are unaware of his condition. Louise McCreesh of Digital Spy explained that Levi would be "determined to keep the truth" from his family. Levi reveals that his job does not allow epileptic people on the force and Bea worries for Levi's partner's, Yashvi Rebecchi's, safety. Bea asks what has caused his condition and Levi gets "offended", then tells her that he has dealt with it for most of his life and he will continue doing so. Bea also helps Levi hide his pills when Yashvi catches him taking them. Sheila later reveals to her partner that she has been feeling guilty due to an incident that occurred during Levi's childhood that nobody knows about and the truth would "break her family apart". Later, Levi tells Roxy about "one disturbing night from his childhood", where he was attacked by burglars while playing with a toy train in his home in Frankston, which gave him his epilepsy. Charlie Milward of Daily Express named the event Levi's "tragic past".Morris' character explained that the incident "deeply scarred" him and caused "nightmares for years", while the fear of the burglars returning was always in his mind. Sheila "guiltily" reveals the truth to Levi and explains that the attackers were Kyle's "criminal friends", there to attack him, and that Sheila did not tell the police to avoid Kyle getting any punishment. Lee reported that Levi would be "shocked" and "angry that he was denied justice and spent years worrying about the attackers." Before ignoring Sheila's apology and explanation, he abruptly leaves and finds Bea to confide in her, whilst Sheila worries that Levi will leave town. Kyle requests that Levi be more sympathetic towards Sheila and dramatic scenes see Levi telling his cousin to get lost. Lee billed the storyline as tense and headlined that it has the "Canning family left devastated". Kilkelly explained that Levi was upset that Sheila had put Kyle in front of him and he remains "upset" with her, before taking "matters into his own hands" and moving out. He also tells Sheila that he will "never forgive her", but later feels financial pressures and eventually decides to move back in with his family. He also reveals that the attack is the "horrendous ordeal" that caused his epilepsy, leaving Sheila in more grief. A few months later, Levi's superior at work, Dax Braddock, discovers his condition and blackmails him, before swapping out his medication and causing him to have another seizure. Levi is found and forced to tell his family the truth.