Late Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte spent years privately urging Hollywood to create more opportunities for disabled performers, while sharing his heartbreak over being overlooked for roles despite appearing in one of television’s most acclaimed dramas.
In dozens of text messages obtained by Our News Outlet, Mitte spoke candidly about the barriers he faced as an actor with cerebral palsy and questioned why the entertainment industry remained hesitant to cast performers with disabilities.
The actor, who died Monday at 34, repeatedly vowed to keep working, create projects of his own and challenge an industry he believed was failing to recognize the talent of disabled performers.
Messages exchanged with a longtime friend over eight years portray a passionate, sometimes frustrated advocate who wanted to be evaluated for his abilities rather than defined by his physical limitations.
In a message dated April 7, 2017, Mitte recalled uncomfortable conversations with casting directors.
‘When I go for a part, they sometimes tell me that it’s not a character with a disability, and I’m like why can’t the character be disabled?’ he wrote.
‘They get real uncomfortable when I say that.’
Mitte believed an actor with a disability could bring added authenticity and depth to a role without making the character’s entire story about that disability.
Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte died Monday at 34 from suspected suicide at his home in Texas
Mitte, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age three, appeared in 56 episodes of Breaking Bad from 2008 to 2013. Above, with series star Cranston at the Emmys in 2012
That distinction mattered to Mitte, who had already showcased his abilities as Walter White Jr., the son of Bryan Cranston’s meth-dealing chemistry teacher in AMC’s critically acclaimed Breaking Bad.
A source close to Cranston told Our News Outlet that the actor was ‘heartbroken’ and was still processing RJ’s death.
The series ran from 2008 to 2013 and made Mitte one of Hollywood’s best-known actors with a disability.
However, Mitte was frustrated that his early success as a teenager had not led to the opportunities he hoped would follow.
‘I can do any role, but some of [the casting agents and directors] are a**h***s who won’t even look at me,’ he wrote in another message in April 2017.
‘I want to put them on blast, but I won’t now.’
He continued auditioning and taking on work, including projects filmed outside the United States.
In December 2017, Mitte wrote about working on a television pilot that ultimately failed to move forward.
‘Worked on a pilot that didn’t go, a few months ago. Brutal biz,’ he wrote.
Two years later, after completing an independent film in Australia, he acknowledged the practical challenges of building a career in such an unpredictable industry.
‘I did a job in Sydney, and it was fun,’ he wrote in February 2019.
‘But it’s a film not going to be here, it’s Australian, I hope I can find stuff here. I would like to work enough to keep my [health] insurance. Pain in the ass lol.’
When the entertainment industry shut down in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, Mitte continued looking for opportunities.
Mitte proposed to Kennedy Suarez in October 2025 at a charity event benefiting United Cerebral Palsy
Mitte reflected on the end of Breaking Bad and how the show set an ‘unobtainable’ bar with The Joe Vulpis Podcast last week
In June 2020, he described completing a project in Canada and doing voice work.
The following day, he expressed interest in obtaining additional publicity to remind casting directors that he was available for hire.
‘I’ve got to figure out more work,’ he wrote. ‘I need to keep myself relevant lol.’
He then offered to participate in video interviews and other promotional opportunities.
‘I just need to remind people to book me.’
By March 2021, Mitte believed the pandemic had created another obstacle for disabled performers, complaining that some people in the entertainment industry appeared to regard actors with disabilities as greater health or insurance risks.
‘Gotta convince people that I’m not going to die of Covid,’ he wrote.
‘There’s a backlash about people with disabilities, they think that we can’t be insured or that we are going to die in the middle of a scene, its bullshit.
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Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age three, Mitte wore leg braces and sometimes used crutches or a wheelchair throughout childhood. By adulthood, the most noticeable effects were on his left hand and his speech.
He became a prominent advocate for greater inclusion in entertainment, serving as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s.
Mitte argued that disabled actors deserved opportunities both in front of and behind the camera, and that television audiences should see people with disabilities portrayed in ordinary, multifaceted roles.
In 2016, he publicly challenged the industry to expand its representation beyond occasional disability-focused storylines.
His role as Walter White Jr in Breaking Bad made Mitte a household name
‘I would love to switch on my TV and see a disabled person talking about something they are genuinely interested in or acting out a part that doesn’t just focus on their impairment,’ he said.
His private messages reveal that the issue remained deeply personal.
In April 2022, shortly after turning 30, Mitte complained to his friend that some of the scripts he was receiving offered little more than tokenism.
‘Looking for interesting stuff to do, getting a lot of scripts where I would be a prop and they don’t want to give any depth, 3 lines if that,’ he wrote. ‘I’m writing my own s**t now.’
Four months later, he expressed renewed frustration with the scarcity of on-screen opportunities. ‘Just doing animation, no one wants me on screen.. it’s annoying as f***.’
As recently as July 2025, he was considering a new challenge: reality television.
In messages to his friend, Mitte said he had softened to the idea of appearing in a competition series that would allow him to demonstrate his abilities to an audience that might know him primarily from Breaking Bad.
He specifically mentioned Dancing with the Stars, saying that participating in the show could challenge assumptions about what performers with cerebral palsy were capable of.
But he was adamant that any appearance should preserve his dignity rather than turn his disability into a spectacle.
‘Now I would do a good reality show, was thinking that dancing would be a good fit, just to show that I can do that s***,’ he wrote.
‘But I would have to make sure that any reality would be dignity, I don’t want to be laughed at, but would consider something that could give me a platform.’
His private messages show that he believed there were many more characters he could play, stories he could tell and assumptions he could challenge.
‘There’s a lot I could do, if given the chance,’ another text read.
Mitte’s frustrations with Hollywood remained present as recently as last week when he appeared on The Joe Vulpis Podcast, where he suggested he only got the Breaking Bad role because the character was based on a real person with cerebral palsy.
In 2019, five years after Breaking Bad, Mitte admitted he still missed being a part of the show’s cast. Above, with Cranston and Anna Gunn on the show in 2008
‘I think casting individuals with disabilities is very tricky,’ Mitte said.
‘My character was written with someone with [cerebral] palsy [in mind]. That was from the beginning. That was always the case.
‘My character Walt Junior was based on a real person, a friend [Director] Vince [Gilligan] had in college who had cerebral palsy, who used forearm crutches and sometime after passed away.
‘And so it really felt real playing this character and getting into the groove with this character.’
In a tragic twist, Mitte was set to star in the upcoming movie Forgotten Outlaw, a Western about the life of Bub Meeks, a childhood friend of notorious outlaw Butch Cassidy. He was cast as the lead.
Director Nik Tizekker told TMZ tonight he plans to move forward with the project to honor the late actor’s wishes, which will mean eventually finding a new leading man.
Mitte died Monday in Brownsville, Texas, where he lived with his fiancée, Kennedy Suarez. TMZ reported, citing a county official, that his death was a suicide and that an investigation was ongoing.
He had proposed to Suarez in October 2025 at a charity event benefiting United Cerebral Palsy.
In a statement following his death, his representative remembered him as a beloved actor, philanthropist and passionate disability rights advocate who used his platform to promote awareness and inclusion.
A source close to his Breaking Bad co-star Bryan Cranston told Our News Outlet: ‘Bryan needs some time to process the heartbreaking loss of RJ. Throughout his career, he has been incredibly fortunate to work alongside so many talented people who have portrayed his children, but his time with RJ on Breaking Bad will always hold an especially meaningful place in his heart,’ they said.
‘The bond they shared, both on and off screen, is something he will never forget. The Breaking Bad cast has always been more than just a group of co-stars to Bryan; they are family.
‘And as someone who was at the center of that family, seeing one of their own gone is absolutely devastating. He’s still trying to find the right words to express what RJ meant to him, but right now, he’s still processing the loss, remembering the incredible person RJ was and simply feeling obviously heartbroken.
‘Bryan hadn’t seen RJ in some time, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t always thinking about him, it is just a really sad day.’
