Actor Bryan Cranston has paid tribute to his Breaking Bad co-star RJ Mitte, who died by suicide at the age of 34 on Tuesday. Mitte played Cranston’s son in the acclaimed television series
Cranston, who played Walter White in the AMC crime drama, shared an emotional message remembering Mitte as a determined actor, a disability rights advocate and a cherished member of the show’s cast.
“I’m in deep despair as I write this tonight. RJ Mitte, my sweet son on Breaking Bad has died,” wrote Cranston. “I met him when he was only 14 years old when he was cast as Walter White Jr., a part he played with such joy and enthusiasm. Born with Cerebral Palsy, he never – ever – allowed that challenge to be an excuse for anything. He met the demanding shooting schedule head on with great determination.”
Cranston said the young actor had grown steadily in his craft while making the most of his experience on the series.
“Always listening to the advice that his TV parents (Anna Gunn and myself) gave him – but being a teenager, sometimes mischievously ignoring the counsel in order to learn the hard way… He was one of the stars of a hit TV show – but still a kid. That kid was pretty raw when we started shooting the pilot in February of 2007, but little by little we watched him grow into a really fine actor. He parlayed his experience on the show to be a vocal advocate for performers with disabilities, and was the head of a philanthropic organisation with a focus on helping the disabled community. All that promise and potential now is such a loss.”
Cranston also expressed shock over the circumstances of Mitte’s death, saying the two had been in touch recently.
“It is especially devastating to hear that he took his own life,” he wrote. “Why? We were texting each other just a few weeks ago – figuring out when we could meet for lunch. I don’t know if that lunch would have changed his future… But I do know that I loved him, and thoroughly enjoyed being with him throughout the years on the series, and after the spotlight on Breaking Bad dimmed… I’ll miss you, son.”
Mitte, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of three, became a prominent advocate for people with disabilities in the entertainment industry and beyond.
He served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children's Hospitals and was president of the Mitte Foundation, a Texas-based non-profit organisation founded by his family in 1994.
In 2013, the year Breaking Bad concluded, Mitte received the SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award, which recognises disabled actors for their efforts to promote representation and awareness.
The actor was 14 when he began working on Breaking Bad and appeared in 56 of the series’ 62 episodes during its five-season run from 2008 to 2013.
His other credits included the recurring role of Campbell Bingman in the third season of the ABC Family drama Switched at Birth and the character Mind Master in Netflix’s 2022 superhero series The Guardians of Justice. Shortly before his death, he had been promoting his role in the film Talking to Strangers, directed by Johnny Severin.
Dean Norris, who played DEA agent Hank Schrader in Breaking Bad, also expressed grief over Mitte’s death.
“Oh my God! Was working just found out about RJ,” he wrote on X. “I am heartbroken. Though RJ didn’t play my TV son, I always looked out for him as a young kid on set. He was a sweetheart of a young man and will be greatly missed. This is so heartbreaking, I can’t believe it. Thinking of him and his family”.