{"id":10199,"date":"2026-10-13T19:16:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T18:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/?p=10199"},"modified":"2026-10-13T19:58:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T18:58:49","slug":"rj-mitte-breaking-bad-deserves-to-be-remembered-so-much-more-than-how-he-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2026\/10\/13\/rj-mitte-breaking-bad-deserves-to-be-remembered-so-much-more-than-how-he-died\/","title":{"rendered":"RJ Mitte deserves to be remembered for so much more than how he died"},"content":{"rendered":"

*Content warning: This article contains references to suicide*<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The news that RJ Mitte has died by suicide is undoubtedly heartbreaking. But as I watched headlines roll in and the conversation unfold this morning, I couldn\u2019t help but think of an issue that hits painfully close to home. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mitte, best known for his disability advocacy and for playing Walter \u201cFlynn\u201d White Jr. in Breaking Bad<\/a>, died aged 34 on Monday, October 12, at his home in Brownsville, Texas.<\/span><\/p>\n

As his representative said in a statement: \u201cIt is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of beloved actor, philanthropist, and passionate disability rights advocate RJ Mitte<\/a>. At this time, we ask people to respect the privacy of RJ Mitte’s family and close ones.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"RJ
Credit: AMC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They later confirmed that the actor took his own life. It\u2019s a situation I know all too well, having lost my dad in the same way. And one thing I learned from his passing is how easily a suicide can overshadow the way in which we remember a person. <\/span><\/p>\n

My dad was an incredible man. He introduced me to the Sex Pistols and shaped my love for music and film. He taught my siblings and I the most important thing in life is to be kind. And outside of being a father, he lived by that belief. One of the many things he did in his work was helping to make it a safe place for LGBTQ+ colleagues years before those conversations were commonplace. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sadly, when he\u2019s talked about among friends and family, it\u2019s more often than not in the context of the tragic way he died. And that’s not to place blame – sometimes it’s all I can think about when I remember him. Sometimes we need to talk about it. But hearing about Mitte\u2019s death has reminded me that I need to make more room for those happier memories of my dad.<\/span><\/p>\n

And I think the same should be true for Mitte, because there was <\/span>so<\/span><\/i> much more to him than the way his life ended.<\/span><\/p>\n

For millions of people, he was Walter White Jr. in Breaking Bad<\/a>. But beyond the screen, Mitte was a passionate disability rights advocate who used his platform to challenge stereotypes and push for better representation of disabled people in the entertainment industry.<\/span><\/p>\n