Actor and activist RJ Mitte has died at the age of 34.
Best known for his performance as Walter White Jr in all five seasons of the Emmy-winning series Breaking Bad, RJ – whose legal name was Roy Frank Mitte – was found dead at his home in Texas on Monday.
His rep said: “It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of beloved actor, philanthropist, and passionate disability rights advocate RJ Mitte.
“Drawing from his own experience living with cerebral palsy, Mitte brought authenticity to [his Breaking Bad role] and built a platform on disability awareness and inclusion.”
Police in Brownsville, Texas previously said that the “cause and manner” of RJ’s death “are still pending, as there is currently an ongoing investigation”.
A judge noted that there did not appear to be any sign of foul play.
RJ got his start in the entertainment industry as a child actor, with small roles in Everybody Hates Chris and Hannah Montana, before being cast as Walter Jr in Breaking Bad at the age of 15.
For his work in Breaking Bad, he and his co-stars won a Screen Actors Guild Award (as they were then still known) in the Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Drama Series category.
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His other acting work included the comedy Now Apocalypse and Netflix’s The Guardians Of Justice, as well as films like Who’s Driving Doug, The Recall and The Oak Room.
Like his character, RJ had cerebral palsy, and outside of his acting work, was an active campaigner for the rights and visibility of disabled people.
In 2017, he told Build: “I always wanted to have an impact in the community – my grandparents were big on that, not just for disability. I always knew there was a need for it and because of the notoriety I got from Breaking Bad, because of the access I was allowed to have, it put me on a different platform, to be able to be more vocal about it.”
“A change of perception of reality [is vital],” he added. “I think it’s so important to show kids disability on a mainstream level, to bring a normality to it on the screen, to bring a normality what we are as a human race.”
RJ also wrote for HuffPost UK in 2014: “Disabled actors often play roles where their disability is the focus of a storyline. It would be great if a character’s disability was incidental rather than a deliberate casting decision.”
He continued: “People look at a disability as a weakness but it should be seen as a strength. The representation of disability both on and off screen needs to be improved.
“If we can make this happen, we will in turn help change attitudes towards disability across the world.”
