Breaking Bad’s RJ Mitte tragically died on Monday at the age of 34. He leaves behind an impressive legacy, having been one of the few actors with cerebral palsy to star in a mainstream TV drama.
Behind-the-scenes however, Mitte wasn’t just a dedicated disability activist and working actor – he was also supporting his family, raising his younger sister and caring for his paralysed mother.
Opening up about his childhood in a 2016 interview, Mitte revealed that he lived with his mother and then-12-year-old sister Lacey at the time, having looked after his mother who was paralysed due to a road accident one month after his sister’s birth.
“She was in a car accident – a car ploughed into her at 40mph – and ruptured her spine. Afterwards, she couldn’t lift Lacey because of the operations she’d had. So I took care of Lacey,” Mitte, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy aged three, told The Guardian.
“There’s a 12-year gap between us and her dad wasn’t really around, so I guess I was a bit of a father figure to her as well as a brother. I changed her diapers, made up her bottles, fed her, rocked her, bathed her – everything, I did it.”
Mitte’s parents divorced when he was just nine months old, after which the actor didn’t have much contact with his father. “He remarried when I was quite young and they had their own little family. He does his own thing,” Mitte continued. “We are kind of estranged. But I don’t feel like he’s missing from my life.”
As a result of the car crash, Mitte became “the main breadwinner” for his family by the time he was 13, which is around the time of his mother’s accident, and “had a lot of responsibility” at home. After six years, his mother regained her mobility.
“It was scary but necessary. I started off working as an extra, and I had to keep getting jobs to pay the bills,” he said. “It evolved into a career very quickly. I think that accident changed our lives. It changed the dynamics of my relationship with my sister. Lacey is my baby, my little girl. We are still very close.”
In the same interview, Mitte revealed that he had discovered he was adopted at the age of eight after his step-brother told him, but he “didn’t really care”. He continued: “It didn’t seem relevant, because I never once in my life felt unloved or like I was a burden.”
Mitte landed the role of Walter White Jr on Breaking Bad at the age of 16 and later appeared in Switched at Birth, The Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls and Now Apocalypse.
Last October, he revealed that he had become engaged to girlfriend Kennedy Suarez after seven years together.
On Monday 12 October, his representative announced “with profound sadness” that the actor had died, saying in a statement: “Drawing from his own experience living with cerebral palsy, Mitte brought authenticity to the role and built a platform on disability awareness and inclusion.”
His on-screen father Bryan Cranston, who starred in Breaking Bad, paid tribute to Mitte on social media. “I’m in deep despair as I write this tonight,” he said. “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.
“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.”
Bryan Cranston speaks of ‘deep despair’ in tribute to Breaking Bad co-star RJ Mitte
RJ Mitte death: Breaking Bad star dies aged 34
Only Fools star received ‘moving’ letters after emotional storyline
Simon Cowell’s temporary replacement for Britain’s Got Talent unveiled
Strictly star ‘heartbroken’ after pulling out of this weekend’s episode
