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RJ No he spent years fighting for a chance to prove that his cerebral palsy did not limit the roles he could play.
Behind the success of “Breaking Bad”, the actor privately questioned Hollywood’s reluctance to give disabled actors meaningful opportunities, even while he was auditioning and developing his own projects.
Messages that now reveal his frustrations provide a harrowing look at a career shaped by persistence, disappointment, and the determination to change an industry he believed overlooked his talent.
RJ Mitte challenged Hollywood casting practices
RJ Mitte’s frustration with Hollywood was rooted in a recurring problem: casting professionals often treated disability as a reason to exclude him from roles not specifically written for disabled characters.
In a private message in April 2017 to a longtime friend who received the Daily Mailhe described the uncomfortable reactions he encountered when he questioned that approach.
“When I go for a part, they sometimes tell me it’s not a disabled character, and I’m like why can’t the character be disabled?” he wrote.
Mitte believed that a character could have cerebral palsy without the entire story revolving around the condition.
His role as Walter White Jr., the son of Bryan Cranston’s chemistry teacher turned drug maker on AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” showed his ability to play a character that extended his life beyond his disability.
But the success of the show did not bring the steady stream of opportunities he had hoped for. “I can do any part, but some of [the casting agents and directors] are **h****s who won’t even look at me,” he wrote in another 2017 message.
He kept listening, but a television pilot he was working on didn’t move forward. “I worked on a pilot that didn’t go, a few months ago. Brutal biz,” he wrote that December.
Mitte struggled to find regular work
The difficulty in getting positions also affected RJ Mitte’s ability to plan for his future. After finishing an independent film project in Sydney, Australia, he explained in February 2019 that he hoped to find more work in the United States.
The project abroad had been enjoyable, but it did not promise another opportunity at home. “I worked in Sydney, and it was fun,” the 34-year-old wrote.
He said, “But it’s a film that’s not going to be here, it’s Australian, I hope I can find stuff here. I’d like to work enough for my [health] insurance. Pain in the ass lol.”
When the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the entertainment industry in 2020, Mitte continued to pursue projects, including work in Canada and voice acting. He also recognized that completing projects was not enough if casting professionals forgot he was available.
“I need to work out more,” he wrote in June 2020, adding, “I need to keep myself relevant lol.” He later offered to do video interviews and other promotional opportunities, explaining, “I just have to remind people to book me.”
By March 2021, Mitte believed that disabled actors faced additional obstacles due to assumptions about their health and stability during the pandemic.
“I have to convince people that I am not going to die of Covid. There is a backlash about people with disabilities, they think that we cannot get insurance or that we are going to die in the middle of a scene, the bull,” he wrote.
RJ Mitte continued on more production and new projects
Mitte’s concerns went beyond finding work for himself. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at three, he became an advocate for disabled actors, serving as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s.
In 2016, he publicly called for television to portray disabled people in mainstream, diverse roles rather than limiting them to stories about their conditions.
“I would love to turn on my TV and see a disabled person talking about something they’re interested in or working on a part that doesn’t just focus on the disabled,” said the star.
His private messages showed that he was still dissatisfied with the scripts he received. In April 2022, he told his friend that some offered little more than the appearance of a console.
“Looking for interesting stuff to do, getting a lot of scripts where I’d be a prop and they don’t want to give any depth, 3 lines if that,” he wrote. “I write my own s**t now.”
Four months later, he complained that they were mainly offering him animation work. By July 2025, however, he was considering “Dancing with the Stars” as a platform that could challenge assumptions about cerebral palsy, as long as the experience retained its dignity.
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Details of Mitte’s tragic death have been revealed
According to a report from The Blast, RJ Mitte died by suicide on Monday, October 12, at the age of 34 in Brownsville, Texas.
His reps confirmed his death, with a statement saying, “It is with deep sadness that we share the tragic death of beloved actor, philanthropist, and passionate disability rights advocate RJ Mitte.
The statement also said that Mitte drew on his experience living with cerebral palsy to lend authenticity to his role as Walter White Jr. on Breaking Bad and to promote disability awareness and inclusion.
He said he was an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s, and directed The Mitte Foundation, which supported philanthropic efforts and community initiatives.
RJ Mitte’s upcoming film has been put on hold posthumously
Mitte’s death also disrupted the production of “Forgotten Outlaw,” a Western in which he was cast as the lead.
TMZ reported that the film has been shelved, with director Nik Tizekker planning to continue the project in honor of the late actor.
Tizekker told the outlet that the film was in pre-production and that Mitte had been helping the team get additional funding before his death. The director thought that the Hollywood star was very suitable for the main role because of his mental and physical resemblance to the person he was going to portray.
Although the production had to find another lead actor, Tizekker said he planned to move forward with the film rather than abandon it.
Mitte had also collaborated with Tizekker on “Like It Was Yesterday”, a limited series exploring near-death experiences. The actor had filmed scenes with Catherine Carlen, who played his mother in the project.
The series was about half finished before Mitte’s death. Tizekker hoped to complete and release it if the necessary funding could be obtained.
