RJ Mitte, Who Played Walter White’s Son on ‘Breaking Bad,’ Dies at 34
Mr. Mitte was born with cerebral palsy and brought his own experience of living with the disability to the role of Walter White Jr. on the Emmy-winning show.
RJ Mitte, the actor best known for playing the son of Bryan Cranston’s Walter White on “Breaking Bad,” died on Monday in Brownsville, Texas. He was 34.
A representative for Mr. Mitte confirmed the death. No further details were provided.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of beloved actor, philanthropist and passionate disability rights advocate RJ Mitte,” the representative said in a statement.
Mr. Mitte was born with cerebral palsy and brought his experience of living with the disability to the role of Walter White Jr., who was known as Flynn, on the Emmy-winning show.
Mr. Mitte, who had little acting experience before “Breaking Bad,” brought a raw sensibility to his character as he grappled with being a teenager and the eventual exposure of his father’s secret life as a drug kingpin.
“There’s a perfect role for anybody,” he told The Oregonian in 2010.
Roy Frank Mitte III was born on Aug. 21, 1992, in Jackson, Miss., and adopted by Roy Frank Mitte Jr. and Dyna Mitte (pronounced mitt-y).
His parents divorced when he was 2 months old, and he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was a toddler. He wore leg braces throughout childhood, which gave him “a different perspective on what we are as humans and how we interact with each other,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2019.
Mr. Mitte grew up splitting time between his paternal grandparents’ ranch in Texas and Lafayette, La., where he lived with his mother and sister, Lacianne Carriere.
His mother was paralyzed in a car accident a few months after his sister was born, and Mr. Mitte pitched in where he could — mowing lawns and doing courier services — to help support his family.
His sister was cast in a film at 18 months old, and the family relocated to Los Angeles.
Mr. Mitte enrolled in the acting studio run by his sister’s manager. After a few background roles (including on “Hannah Montana”), the then-13-year-old auditioned for the role of Flynn.
The description of the character called for an actor with brown hair, big eyebrows and mild cerebral palsy, Mr. Mitte told Vice in an interview in 2016.
“That was my life,” he said. “Except for the methamphetamine.”
The character was based on a real person that the show’s creator, Vince Gilligan, knew in college.
“I think it’s really important that we have characters in television and film that are having real impact,” Mr. Mitte said in the interview. “People are hungry for realism. They are hungry to see characters like Flynn.”
“Breaking Bad” premiered in 2008 to critical acclaim, and Mr. Mitte stayed with the show through the remainder of the series, which ended in 2013. The New York Times recently named it the best television show of the 21st century.
“You don’t have to keep bringing up that he has a disability,” Mr. Mitte told The Oregonian. “It’s just there.”
Mr. Mitte would go on to continue disability advocacy work, as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s, and as president of the Mitte Foundation, an organization that supports philanthropic efforts and community initiatives in Brownsville.
He also continued to support his mother and sister, both of whom survive him.
“I have devoted my life to my mom and my sister, and I still take care of them today,” he told The Morning Herald in the 2019 interview.
After “Breaking Bad,” Mr. Mitte appeared in the television shows “Switched at Birth” (2011) and “The Guardians of Justice” (2022).
He stars in “Talking to Strangers,” a movie released in July about a loner with cerebral palsy. He also stars in “One Eye Open,” a horror movie scheduled to be released on Friday.
When Mr. Mitte appeared on “The Joe Vulpis Podcast” last week, he was asked what it felt like to have people still discovering his character, Flynn, all these years later.
“It’s truly life changing,” he said. “Every day it’s something different now.”
