RJ Mitte, who played Walter White Jr. on “Breaking Bad,” died Monday in Brownsville, Texas, at 34. His representative confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the actor died by suicide. Former castmates responded within hours. Anna Gunn, who played his mother, Skyler White, for five seasons from 2008 to 2013, called him her “beloved TV son.” She wrote that she would never forget meeting him at 14. “You live in my heart forever, my dearest RJ,” she wrote. Gunn ended her statement by pointing anyone struggling to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Bryan Cranston, who played Mitte’s TV father, began his tribute by calling Mitte “my sweet son.” He remembered a teenager who sometimes brushed off his on-screen parents’ advice and learned lessons the hard way. Cranston stressed that Mitte, for all his fame on a hit series, was still a kid.
Dean Norris, who played DEA agent Hank Schrader, said he had looked out for Mitte on set. During a livestream scheduled before the news broke, Norris called Mitte a “sweet, sweet boy” and said he would miss him. Aaron Paul said Mitte always led with kindness and strength. Bob Odenkirk praised him as a good person who shared his personal story to help others. Mitte built a second career as a disability rights activist. He won the SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award in 2013 for his work on “Breaking Bad,” and later appeared in “Switched at Birth” and “The Guardians of Justice.”
He had spoken publicly about the show only days earlier. On “The Joe Vulpis Podcast” earlier this month, he praised Cranston and Gunn for the wealth of experience they brought to the set. The loss lands hard in a cast that has stayed close. Gunn wrote that no words could capture the heartbreak of losing a young man whose impact reached far and who had so much ahead of him.
If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the US to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
