RJ Mitte, the actor who became internationally known as Walter White Jr. on Breaking Bad, has died at the age of 34.

Mitte died Monday in Brownsville, Texas, where authorities pronounced him dead at around 1:30 p.m.

His representatives confirmed his death in a statement, describing him as a beloved actor, philanthropist and passionate advocate for people with disabilities.

Mitte’s publicist subsequently told Reuters that the actor died by suicide.

Local officials initially said an autopsy would be performed and that they were not yet able to provide an official cause of death.

For millions of television viewers, Mitte will forever be remembered as Walter “Flynn” White Jr., the teenage son of Bryan Cranston’s Walter White and Anna Gunn’s Skyler White.

He joined Breaking Bad when he was still a teenager and remained a central member of the cast throughout the acclaimed drama’s five-season run from 2008 to 2013.

Like Mitte himself, Walter Jr. had cerebral palsy.

That shared experience gave the performance an authenticity that became increasingly important to Mitte as his career developed.

His representatives said he used the fame created by Breaking Bad to challenge stereotypes and advocate for more meaningful representation of people with disabilities in film and television.

He served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s and was involved in charitable work through the Mitte Foundation.

For Mitte, disability representation was never simply about putting disabled actors on screen.

He repeatedly pushed for disabled performers to be given complex roles — heroes, villains, romantic leads and ordinary people whose disability was not necessarily the center of every storyline.

That made his work on Breaking Bad particularly significant.

Walter Jr.’s cerebral palsy was part of the character, but it did not define him.

He was a teenager dealing with parents, school, identity and, eventually, the horrifying realization that his father had become a violent drug kingpin.

The role made Mitte one of the most visible young actors with a disability in American television.

And it earned him recognition alongside the rest of the Breaking Bad ensemble, including a Screen Actors Guild Award.

After news of his death broke, Bryan Cranston shared an emotional tribute to the young actor who had played his son.

Cranston remembered meeting Mitte when he was only 14.

At the time, Mitte was still inexperienced.

Over the following years, Cranston watched him grow into a professional actor while navigating one of television’s most demanding productions.

“I met him when he was only 14-years-old when he was cast as Walter White Jr,” Cranston wrote.

He remembered Mitte approaching the role with enthusiasm and determination.

Cranston also praised the way Mitte lived with cerebral palsy, saying he never allowed it to become an excuse for avoiding challenges.

His final words were devastatingly simple:

“I’ll miss you, son.”

Aaron Paul, who played Jesse Pinkman, was similarly shaken.

“I am at a loss,” Paul said in a statement.

“I am heartbroken over this news.”

He told Mitte that he loved him and that he would be missed, before offering a broader message to anyone struggling emotionally: remember that you are loved and not alone.

Dean Norris, who played Hank Schrader, also remembered watching out for Mitte during his early years on set.

Although Mitte did not play his character’s son, Norris said he viewed him almost like a younger family member during production.

“He was a sweetheart of a young man,” Norris wrote.

Other Breaking Bad cast members also shared memories of the teenager who grew up alongside them during the making of the show.

Mitte’s path to acting had begun almost accidentally.

Born Roy Frank Mitte III, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was around three years old.

He spent years using leg braces and crutches while undergoing therapy intended to strengthen his muscles and improve mobility.

His condition ultimately became milder than Walter Jr.’s, meaning he sometimes exaggerated certain physical characteristics for the role.

Mitte moved to Los Angeles in the mid-2000s while helping support his younger sister’s acting ambitions.

Before long, he began auditioning himself.

Small roles followed on shows including Hannah Montana and Everybody Hates Chris.

Then came Breaking Bad.

It changed everything.

Mitte was still only a teenager when he entered the world created by Vince Gilligan.

By the time the show ended, he had become internationally recognizable.

Breaking Bad eventually won 16 Primetime Emmy Awards from 58 nominations and came to be regarded as one of the defining television dramas of its era.

Mitte’s performance was an important part of that success.

Walter Jr. served as one of the moral anchors of the White family story.

As Walter descended deeper into violence and deception, his son increasingly represented the ordinary family life he claimed to be protecting but was actually destroying.

After Breaking Bad, Mitte continued acting.

His later credits included Switched at Birth, Now Apocalypse, Chance, The Guardians of Justice and films including Dixieland, Time Share and Triumph.

He also modeled, appeared in music videos and worked on television coverage of the Paralympic Games.

But disability advocacy remained one of the most consistent parts of his public life.

Mitte frequently spoke about the gap between the number of disabled people in society and the number seen authentically represented on screen.

He wanted Hollywood to move beyond tokenism.

And he repeatedly used his own success as evidence that disability did not prevent someone from carrying a major television role.

That legacy now stands alongside the character that first made him famous.

RJ Mitte was only a teenager when millions of viewers first met him as Walter White Jr.

They watched him grow up on screen.

His castmates watched him grow up off it.

And after his death at just 34, their tributes reveal how deeply those years connected them.

Bryan Cranston’s farewell perhaps captured that bond better than anything else could.

After nearly two decades of knowing the young actor who once played his son, he ended with the words many Breaking Bad fans will find difficult to read.

“I’ll miss you, son.”