- RJ Mitte, who played Walter "Flynn" White Jr. on AMC's "Breaking Bad," died Monday in Texas at 34.
- TMZ reported the death was confirmed by a county official and that he died by suicide. Police say the investigation continues.
- His representatives called the loss tragic and pointed to his work with United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children's.
- Earlier this month he was seen smiling in photos with castmate Luis Moncada.
Mitte played Walter White Jr. on AMC's "Breaking Bad," the teenage son of a chemistry teacher who becomes a drug kingpin. TMZ broke the news and said a county official confirmed it. The outlet also reported that he died by suicide, and that law enforcement told it the death investigation is still open.
That is where things stand. Those details come from TMZ for now, and nothing here goes past what has been attributed to it. TMZ's report did not mention funeral or memorial plans, and there was no word yet from his family beyond the statement from his team.
Mitte turned 34 in August.
TMZ posted its first report at 1:20 p.m. Pacific. About twenty minutes later, Mitte's representatives sent over a statement. It called his passing tragic and described him as a beloved actor, a philanthropist and a disability rights advocate.
The statement kept coming back to cerebral palsy. Mitte lived with it, and so did Flynn. His team said he took that experience into the role, and then into a public life built around awareness and inclusion.
Mitte's family moved to Hollywood in 2006. He picked up small background parts, including on "Hannah Montana" and "Everybody Hates Chris," before landing the job that changed everything.
"Breaking Bad" premiered in 2008. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul carried most of the attention, but Mitte was in the house the whole time, a kid at the kitchen table who spent most of the series not knowing what his father was doing. By TMZ's count he appeared in 56 episodes. At the show's ten-year reunion, Mitte said the writers once weighed killing Flynn off, with the Salamanca brothers as the likely culprits. Gilligan reportedly never figured out how to fit it in. The show wrapped in 2013. Vince Gilligan created it, and by the end it sat on plenty of best-of-all-time lists, which meant a teenager who started as an extra was suddenly part of one of the most talked-about casts on television.
He didn't treat the role as a one-off.
In 2013 the SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award at the Media Access Awards went to him for his work on the series. That same night he presented a diversity award carrying his own name to deaf actor Ryan Lane. A year later he was in a Gap campaign. In early 2015 he was on the cover of Neurology Now.
According to his reps, he served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and for Shriners Children's, two groups that work with kids and families dealing with disability and medical care. He kept talking about representation, too. When a TMZ photographer caught up with him in January 2019, his message was the same one he'd been giving for years: Hollywood needs more disabled actors on screen. That was the last time TMZ got him on camera.
The credits kept coming, just smaller. He was in "Switched at Birth" and "This Close," and later "Now Apocalypse." On the film side there was "The Recall," "The Oak Room" and "The Guardians of Justice (Will Save You!)." None came close to the reach of the AMC drama, which is true for most people who were part of a show that big.
Earlier this month Mitte hung out with Luis Moncada, who played Marco Salamanca on "Breaking Bad." Both posted pictures on social media, and TMZ noted they looked to be in good spirits.
He was engaged to Kennedy Suarez. He proposed in October 2025, after years together.
Officials haven't said anything more about the circumstances. Guessing at reasons helps nobody, least of all the people closest to him, so this report stops where the attributed facts stop.
If you or someone you know is in crisis in the United States, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or chat at 988lifeline.org. Outside the US, the International Association for Suicide Prevention lists crisis centers at iasp.info/crisis-centres.
