‘Breaking Bad’ Actor RJ Mitte Dies at 34

RJ Mitte, the actor best known for playing Walter White Jr. on AMC’s Breaking Bad, has died at 34. His representative confirmed the death to multiple news organizations on Monday. No cause was immediately disclosed.

Mitte died in Brownsville, Texas, according to the BBC. In a statement, representative Sean Reilly remembered him as an actor, philanthropist and disability-rights advocate who used his public profile to challenge stereotypes and push for greater inclusion.

A defining role on ‘Breaking Bad’

Mitte joined Breaking Bad as a teenager, portraying the son of Bryan Cranston’s Walter White and Anna Gunn’s Skyler White across the drama’s five-season run. Like his character, Mitte lived with cerebral palsy. His performance gave the series a grounded family perspective as Walter’s criminal life steadily damaged the people closest to him.

The ensemble won the Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a drama series in 2014. The show, created by Vince Gilligan, aired from 2008 to 2013 and became one of television’s most acclaimed dramas.

An advocate beyond the screen

Mitte turned the visibility of his breakthrough role into sustained advocacy for performers with disabilities. He served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s, and his Mitte Foundation supported charitable and community work. He regularly spoke about the need for disabled characters to be written as complete people rather than reduced to a diagnosis.

His credits after Breaking Bad included Switched at Birth, The Recall, The Oak Room and Netflix’s The Guardians of Justice. He had recently been promoting the film Talking to Strangers and had several projects in various stages of production.

Mitte grew up in Louisiana and moved to Los Angeles in 2005 while helping his younger sister pursue acting. What began as support for her career led to the role that made him internationally recognizable—and to a platform he repeatedly used to argue for fuller, more authentic representation.