R.J. Mitte, ‘Breaking Bad’ Actor Who Played Walter White Jr., Dies at 34

Actor RJ Mitte, best known for playing Walter White Jr., the son of Walter White in the hit AMC series Breaking Bad, has died at the age of 34, his representatives said on Monday.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of beloved actor, philanthropist, and passionate disability rights advocate RJ Mitte,” his representatives said in a statement. They did not disclose the cause of death.

Mitte died on Monday in Brownsville, Texas, where he had moved, according to Brownsville Justice of the Peace Cyndi Hinojosa. Hinojosa said she pronounced him dead at 1:32pm but could not disclose the cause of death.

In the award-winning Breaking Bad, Mitte portrayed Walter White Jr., the teenage son of a high school teacher who becomes a methamphetamine producer. The series premiered in January 2008, when Mitte was 15, and the role marked his breakthrough in acting.

Mitte had cerebral palsy, a condition that was also reflected in his character on the show. He subsequently became an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, drawing on his own experiences to promote awareness and inclusion.

“Drawing from his own experience living with cerebral palsy, Mitte brought authenticity to the role and built a platform on disability awareness and inclusion,” his representatives said.

Beyond his acting career, Mitte served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s. He was also president of The Mitte Foundation, supporting philanthropic work and community initiatives while using his public platform to challenge stereotypes and promote greater representation of people with disabilities, his representatives said.

They asked for privacy for his family and loved ones.

Mitte also appeared in the 2020 horror film The Oak Room and the 2017 science fiction film The Recall. In the 2021 film Triumph, he played a high school student with cerebral palsy who fights to become a wrestler. The film received the Ruderman Family Foundation Seal of Authentic Representation for its portrayal of people with disabilities.

Hinojosa said Mitte would be deeply missed in Brownsville.

“He was so gracious to our town,” she said in a phone interview.

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Mitte was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of three, he told Vice in a 2016 interview. He moved to Los Angeles when he was 12 or 13, he said, and began acting to meet other children his age.

“I started acting to meet kids my own age,” he said in the interview.

In a 2021 interview with Big Issue, Mitte credited favourable media coverage and critical acclaim with helping Breaking Bad survive its early years, when its audience was not large enough to sustain a network television show.

“It wasn’t the viewers, because we didn’t have the numbers to stay as a network show,” he said, adding that the series gained a larger audience in its later seasons.

The show ran for five seasons, from 2008 to 2013.

In the same interview, Mitte credited his family with supporting him when public perceptions of people with cerebral palsy were often negative. He recalled that some people had believed he would never walk or speak properly or lead a typical life or career.

“That was the perception when I was a kid,” he said. “And my family was like, ‘No. He’s going to go do things.’”

In his 2016 interview with Vice, Mitte said he felt fortunate to be in a position to advocate for others and make a positive difference.

“I’m lucky that I can be an advocate. I’m lucky that I can do what I do and talk to the people I get to talk to,” he said.

“I think we all have an obligation to have an impact for the positive,” he added.