RJ Mitte

Years active2006–present

Roy Frank "RJ" Mitte III (/ˈmɪti/; born August 21, 1992)^[1] is an American actor and producer. Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Mitte was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was three. He moved to Hollywood in 2006, and worked with a personal talent manager to find acting opportunities where his disability could educate viewers.^[2] After making cameos in sitcoms, he was cast in his breakthrough role as Walter White Jr. on the AMC crime drama series Breaking Bad (2008–2013).^[3]

Mitte has starred in the ABC family drama series Switched at Birth (2014) and the Netflix animated series The Guardians of Justice (2022). He has appeared in films such as the thriller drama Time Share (2018), the independent comedy Standing Up for Sunny (2019), the thriller The Oak Room (2020), and the drama Triumph (2021), the lattermost of which he executive produced.

Mitte has advocated for cerebral palsy and other disabilities. He is a Screen Actors Guild spokesman for actors with disabilities, and a celebrity ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy. He received the SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award in 2013.

Mitte was born in Jackson, Mississippi.^[4] He was delivered by emergency caesarean and was not breathing at the time of his birth, which resulted in permanent brain damage. He was adopted a few weeks later by Roy Frank Mitte Jr. and Dyna Mitte, who later separated. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of three, and doctors put his legs in casts for six months in an attempt to straighten his feet.^[5]

Mitte was fitted with leg braces and used crutches throughout most of his childhood; however, over time, his body became stronger through sports and exercise; he no longer needed any walking devices by his teenage years.^[6] In 2006, he moved with his family to Los Angeles, where his younger sister Lacianne Carriere had received an offer for a role in a film project.^[7][8]

Mitte was raised by his mother following the separation of his parents. After his mother became paralyzed, Mitte became financially responsible at age 13 for the family, which by then also included his sister who was born when he was 11 years old. As of 2015, he was still financially responsible for his mother and sister.^[9]

After receiving several roles as an extra, including in the Disney series Hannah Montana,^[10] Mitte became interested in films and decided to take acting lessons. Shortly after, he was offered the role of Walter White Jr., a character who also has cerebral palsy, in the AMC series Breaking Bad.^[3]

At the 2013 Media Access Awards, Mitte received the SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award for his portrayal of Walter White Jr. on the series and also presented the eponymous RJ Mitte Diversity Award to deaf actor Ryan Lane.^[11] The Screen Actors Guild named Mitte as the spokesman for actors with disabilities and he is the representative of Inclusion in the Arts and Media of Performers with Disabilities, which employs artists with disabilities.^[12]

Mitte starred in the short horror film Stump in 2011.^[13] That same year, he worked as executive producer of the documentary Vanished: The Tara Calico Story, about the disappearance of Tara Calico.^[14] Mitte was cast in the 2012 thriller film House of Last Things.

Mitte appeared in the 2013 music video for "Dead Bite" by rapcore band Hollywood Undead. In January 2014, he began a recurring role on the ABC Family drama series Switched at Birth portraying Campbell, a premed student paralyzed from a snowboarding accident who uses a wheelchair.^[15] Mitte modeled for a spring 2014 Gap ad campaign.^[16]

Mitte appeared on the cover of the February/March 2015 issue of Neurology Now (published by the American Academy of Neurology). The issue included a short biography and his views on cerebral palsy, bullying, and his acting career.^[17] He was also named a celebrity ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy in 2015.^[18]

Mitte went on to walk the catwalk for Vivienne Westwood in June 2015.^[19] On 17 November 2015, Mitte was announced to be a presenter as part of British Channel 4's coverage of the 2016 Rio Summer Paralympics.^[20] He appeared in the video for "If I Get High" by Nothing But Thieves in 2016.

Mitte revealed in an Instagram post that he has been in a relationship with Kennedy Blaire since 2022.^[21]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Stump		Short film
2013	House of Last Things	Tim
2015	Dixieland	CJ
2016	Who's Driving Doug	Doug
2017	The Recall	Brendan
2018	Time Share	Tom
	Retired Cupid	RJ	Short film
	Rivers Run Red	Officer Thomas
2019	Standing Up for Sunny	Travis
2020	Not a Game	Self	Documentary
	The Oak Room	Steve
2021	Triumph	Mike	Also executive producer[22]
2023	The Unseen	Tommy Olson	[23]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Everybody Hates Chris	Audience Member	Uncredited; episode: "Everybody Hates Elections"
2007	Hannah Montana	School Jock	Uncredited; episode: "Schooly Bully"[24]
2008–2013	Breaking Bad	Walter White Jr.	Main role
2013	Vegas	Russ Auster	Episode: "Paiutes"
2014	Switched at Birth	Campbell Bingman	Recurring role; 9 episodes
2016	Robot Chicken	Walter White Jr. (voice)	Episode: "Food"[25]
2017	The Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls	Participant	Series 2
	Chance	Patient at convention	Episode: "The Collected Works of William Shakespeare"
2018	This Close	Solomon	Episode: "Who We Are"
2019	Now Apocalypse	Leif	Recurring role; 2 episodes
2022	The Guardians of Justice	Mind Master	Main role

Year	Title	Artist	Notes
2013	"Dead Bite"	Hollywood Undead
	"Party Like Tomorrow is the End of the World"	Steel Panther
2016	"If I Get High"	Nothing but Thieves
	"In the Dark"	3 Doors Down

Award	Year	Category	Project	Result
Media Access Awards	2013	SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award	Breaking Bad	Awarded[11]
Screen Actors Guild Awards	2012	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Breaking Bad	Nominated[26]
	2013	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Breaking Bad	Nominated[27]
	2014	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Breaking Bad	Won[28]
Young Artist Awards	2012	Best Performance in a TV Series – Recurring Young Actor 17–21	Breaking Bad	Nominated[29]

• RJ Mitte at IMDb
• RJ Mitte discusses Breaking Bad at AMCTV.com, 2009
• RJ Mitte — Breaking Bad Is Good Interview with ABILITY Magazine