R.J. Mitte, Walter White’s Son on ‘Breaking Bad,’ Dies at 34

R.J. Mitte, the actor and disability rights advocate who portrayed Walter White Jr., the son of Bryan Cranston’s character, on Breaking Bad, has died. He was 34. Mitte died Monday in Brownsville, Texas, his reps announced. “It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of beloved actor, philanthropist and passionate disability rights advocate R.J. Mitte,” they said in a statement. No cause of death was revealed, but TMZ reported that he died by suicide, according to a county official. Born on Aug. 21, 1992, and raised by adopted parents in Jackson, Mississippi, Roy Frank Mitte III was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was 3. He came to Hollywood in 2006 — his younger sister, Lacianne, had gotten a job offer to work in film production — and appeared uncredited a year later on an episode of Hannah Montana. He then played Walter “Flynn” White Jr. on 56 episodes of Breaking Bad over all five seasons of the AMC drama from 2008-13, drawing from his real-life experience. Mitte recently made an appearance on The Joe Vulpis Podcast, where he reflected on his Breaking Bad years. “My character was written with someone with cerebral palsy. This was from the beginning, that was always the case,” he said. “Walt Jr. was based on a real person, a friend of (Breaking Bad creator) Vince Gilligan in college who had cerebral palsy, who used forearm crutches and sometime after passed away. So it really felt real playing this character and getting into the groove with this character.” Mitte also praised Cranston and Anna Gunn, who played his mom on the show. “Bryan and Anna, they have such a wealth of knowledge and have been working in the industry for many years at the time and even more now,” he recalled. “And so every day, as far as it being a dark show having heavy themes, everything was very light-hearted, even in between takes.” He later appeared on the Freeform drama Switched at Birth in 2014 as pre-med student Campbell Bingman and voiced the Mind Master on the Netflix animated series The Guardians of Justice in 2022. His latest project, the dark romantic thriller Cassi, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last month. In the film from Josh Webber, he plays a lonely funeral home worker who falls for a local waitress (Dove Cameron) as they’re drawn into a deadly revenge plot. Offscreen, “Mitte built a platform on disability awareness and inclusion,” his reps said. “Beyond entertaining friends and family around the world, he served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s. 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.” More to come …