Walter White’s son in Breaking Bad is dead: RJ Mitte was 34

The actor who played Walter White Jr. opposite Bryan Cranston ended his life yesterday.

He was Walter White Jr.,

RJ Mitte, who played Bryan Cranston’s son in Breaking Bad, has died at the age of 34. His death was confirmed by his representative to Variety. The actor was also a strong advocate for disability representation in Hollywood.

The Brownsville Police Department received a call at 12:50 p.m. yesterday (local time) and found Mitte lifeless at his home. According to information communicated by local authorities to the American press, RJ Mitte ended his life.

During the five seasons of the series created by Vince Gilligan, broadcast between 2008 and 2013, he played the son of Walter and Skyler White. Like his character, the actor suffered from cerebral palsy, diagnosed when he was three years old. Her performance helped to raise public awareness of this disability and to evolve its representation on screen.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the tragic passing of actor, philanthropist and strong advocate for the rights of people with disabilities RJ Mitte,” his representative said in a statement. “Drawing on her own experience with cerebral palsy, Mitte brought authenticity to the role and established a platform dedicated to disability awareness and inclusion.”

Throughout his career, Mitte has been committed to greater inclusion of people with disabilities in the entertainment industry. He was notably an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s, and chaired his own foundation, the Mitte Foundation. In 2013, the year Breaking Bad ended, he received the Harold Russell Award from SAG-AFTRA, which recognizes commitment to the representation of actors with disabilities.

Upset, Bryan Cranston paid tribute to him on social networks:

“I am deeply saddened as I write these words tonight. RJ Mitte, my sweet son on Breaking Bad, has died. I met him when he was just 14, when he was cast as Walter White Jr., a role he played with such joy and enthusiasm. Suffering from cerebral palsy, he never – ever – let his disability be an excuse for anything. He coped with the demanding pace of filming with immense determination. He played this role with immense joy and enthusiasm.”

Bryan Cranston also praised his commitment to disabled actors and his philanthropic work: “He was one of the stars of a hit series, but he was still just a kid. Little by little, we saw him become a very good actor. All this promise and this potential that is fading away today is a huge loss.”

The actor finally confided his pain by talking about their last exchanges:

“We were still texting each other a few weeks ago, trying to find a time to have lunch together. I don’t know if that lunch would have changed his future… But I do know that I loved him and deeply enjoyed spending time with him, both during the show and after the Breaking Bad spotlight went out. I’m going to miss you, son.”

RJ Mitte started working on Breaking Bad when he was just 14 years old. He appeared in 56 of the 62 episodes of the series, considered one of the greatest television works of all time. He then starred in the Netflix series The Guardians of Justice, as well as the films The Recall (2017) and The Oak Room (2020). He also had a recurring role in Switched at Birth.

At the time of his death, the actor was promoting his new film, Talking to Strangers, and several projects were in the works or in production.