Actor RJ Mitte, known for playing the son of Walter White in the hit AMC series “Breaking Bad” and as an advocate for the rights of those with disabilities, has died, his representatives said Monday. He was 34.
“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.
His cause of death was suicide, according to the representatives.
Mitte died Monday in Brownsville, Texas, where he had moved, Brownsville Justice of the Peace Cyndi Hinojosa said.
Hinojosa said that she declared him dead at 1:32 p.m. but that she could not disclose the cause of death.
‘Breaking Bad’ actor RJ Mitte dies at 34
In the award-winning “Breaking Bad,” Mitte played Walter White Jr., the teenage son of a high school teacher who becomes a methamphetamine producer.
The series, which debuted in January 2008, when he was 15, provided his breakout role.
Mitte had cerebral palsy, which was reflected on “Breaking Bad,” and he was an advocate for the rights of people living with disabilities.
“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 in the statement.
“Beyond entertaining friends and family around the world, he served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s,” they said in the statement.
“He also served as president of The Mitte Foundation, supporting philanthropic efforts and community initiatives, while using his platform to challenge stereotypes and promote greater representation for people with disabilities,” they said.
The representatives asked for privacy for Mitte’s family and loved ones.
Mitte also starred in the 2020 horror film “The Oak Room” and the 2017 sci-fi film “The Recall.”
In “Triumph,” which was released in 2021, Mitte stars as a high schooler who fights to become a wrestler despite having cerebral palsy. The film won a Ruderman Family Foundation Seal of Authentic Representation, an award for the portrayal of people with disabilities.
Hinojosa, the justice of the peace, said Mitte “will be very, very much missed” in Brownsville.
“He was so gracious to our town,” Hinojosa said in a phone interview.
Mitte was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and doctors diagnosed cerebral palsy when he was 3 years old, he told Vice in a 2016 interview. He was 12 or 13 years old when he moved to Los Angeles, he said.
“I started acting to meet kids my own age,” he said in the Vice interview.
In a 2021 interview, Mitte told Big Issue that favorable media and critical reception of “Breaking Bad” helped keep the show on the air in its first few years.
“It wasn’t the viewers, because we didn’t have the numbers to stay as a network show,” Mitte said.
It wasn’t until later seasons that “we really got the viewership,” he said.
The show ran for five seasons, from 2008 to 2013.
In that interview, Mitte credited his family for supporting him when the public perception of people with cerebral palsy was negative.
When he was younger, he said, some believed he would never walk or talk properly or have a typical life or career.
“That was the perception when I was a kid,” Mitte said in the interview. “And my family was like, ‘No. He’s going to go do things.’”
Mitte told Vice in 2016 that he considered himself fortunate to be able to make a 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 said.
