RJ Mitte's heartbroken mentor shares the video that launched Breaking Bad star's career... as friends say he planned a desperate final request to Bryan Cranston

The odds of a homeschooled Louisiana boy with cerebral palsy ever becoming a globally celebrated actor had seemed slim to none.

But from the moment RJ Mitte first stepped into the spotlight at age 13, he was determined not to let his disability ruin his dreams of becoming a star.

The future Breaking Bad actor made his 2006 stage debut at a videotaped talent showcase at a small studio in Sherman Oaks, California, hosted by his childhood acting coach and mentor Addison Witt.

'I quickly recognized that this kid had something very special,' Witt told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview.

'He was not moping or crying or whining about his condition or his status. He embraced it. In fact, he leaned into it and made it a superpower.'

Filmmaker and producer Witt shared the never-before-seen footage with the Daily Mail this week as he struggled to make sense of the unexpected death of his former protégé.

Actor and disability rights advocate Mitte – best known for playing Walter White Jr in Breaking Bad – died by suicide Monday in Brownsville, Texas. He was 34.

Witt wrote a scene for Mitte two decades ago as part of a live talent showcase to help budding young actors gain exposure.

The 50-strong audience loved Mitte's boisterous depiction of a moody teen taking potshots at his strict father, Witt recalled, but things didn't always go so smoothly behind the scenes.

When Mitte was first introduced to the other students, several kids burst out laughing at his 'slurred' speech and involuntary movements.

'RJ was able to turn things around quickly,' added Witt, 60. 'He was personable and wildly, wildly funny. He soon had them laughing along with him.

'Was RJ a really solid actor at that time? No, he was just starting out. But this was his very first performance on a stage being recorded in that way, so it was great progress.'

Witt, then an established Hollywood talent manager based in downtown Los Angeles, had received a phone call from Mitte's mother, Dyna Mitte, the previous year.

But it was Mitte's little sister Lacey, then aged two, whom the single mom had brought along to meet Witt at Mel's Drive-In on Sunset Boulevard.

'That little girl came in wearing a pearl necklace, pearl earrings, a lime-green dress, with bright red hair and a handbag,' Witt said.

'Her mother unleashed her and she walked around the restaurant, greeting people, saying hello, and everyone was smitten.

'She was adorable and I could see why someone would say, "Get that little girl in show business."'

Witt explained he couldn't represent a toddler, but Dyna tried to sway him with cute photos of Lacey posing in Halloween costumes alongside her brother.

'I said, "Who is that? He's got extraordinary bone structure," Witt recalled. "Has he ever thought about getting him into modeling?"'

Dyna seemed reluctant to discuss her adopted son, however.

She later called Witt to explain that Mitte had cerebral palsy, a lifelong neurological condition that affects movement, muscle control and coordination.

He was diagnosed at three years old and wore leg braces throughout childhood.

'I said I appreciated all types of diversity, not only ethnic diversity, but people with disabilities,' Witt said.

'She asked if RJ could join my acting studio, and he did.'

The 2006 showcase was Mitte's first recorded stage performance. He landed a handful of background actor credits but was still waiting for his first major role.

That would change months later when Mitte auditioned for the role of Walter White Jr, the son of Bryan Cranston's chemistry teacher-turned-meth kingpin on Breaking Bad.

After appearing for five seasons on such a successful series, Mitte had big dreams for his future.

He was 'very aggressive' about his acting career and trying to make it big in Hollywood, sources told the Daily Mail. 

'You have to push hard to get anything in show business and RJ was no exception,' a source said. 

'He wanted to get his own show, he wanted to be a leading man and he had the looks for it. But Hollywood is Hollywood, not everyone gets a chance and that was a hard pill for RJ to swallow.'

Insiders say Mitte had been calling up Hollywood friends begging for work before his tragic death - including planning a lunch date with his former co-star, Bryan Cranston. 

'He figured Bryan could help him get more jobs because Bryan is so connected and has been so successful. He thought Bryan could put in a good word for him,' a source said. 

When news of Mitte's death broke, Cranston penned an emotional tribute on social media describing his 'deep despair' over his co-star's passing. 

The actor revealed that the pair had recently been texting and making plans to meet for lunch, lamenting: 'I don't know if that lunch would have changed his future.'

'Bryan is really crushed this went down, he is incredibly sad, it's a tough thing to process,' a source said. 

'He used to call RJ his 'son' all the time in real life. His heart is broken, as is the rest of the cast.' 

Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan had wanted an actor with mild cerebral palsy to play Walter Jr, known as Flynn.

Gilligan based the character on his college friend Takehiko Kitazawa, who had cerebral palsy and died in his twenties.

'Somehow, someway, the perfect audition came through,' said Witt of Mitte and the show.

'Gilligan wanted an actor with cerebral palsy as opposed to an actor portraying someone with CP.'

Witt accompanied Mitte to an audition in Sherman Oaks, California before the young actor went to Albuquerque, New Mexico to meet the cast.

'They rang to say he got the part. Vince Gilligan loved him,' he recalled.

Breaking Bad premiered to critical acclaim in 2008, but it wasn't until midway through the first season that Witt started to grasp its emerging cult status.

He and Mitte had traveled to New York to attend the Peabody Awards ceremony when they found themselves surrounded by crowds of people in Times Square who recognized Mitte.

The same thing happened on the Paris Metro when they attended the Champs-Élysées Film Festival.

'To be recognized in crowds of people from the very first season of a series was not usual,' Witt said. 'So, I knew it would be extraordinary. Just to what degree, of course, none of us could possibly have known.'

Witt and Mitte went their separate ways around the time Breaking Bad wrapped in late 2013, bringing their eight-year partnership to an end.

Mitte went on to land further roles in the television shows Switched at Birth, The Guardians of Justice and Now Apocalypse.

He also served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy, pushing for better representation of disabled actors in Hollywood.

Mitte proposed to his fiancée Kennedy Suarez in October 2025, and the couple had been planning their wedding in the months before his tragic death, according to friends.

Like Cranston, Witt, too, described Mitte as being like a son during their business relationship. 

'At one time, RJ and I were so, so, so close. He was like a son. It's devastating,' he told the Daily Mail.

Despite his cerebral palsy appearing to be relatively mild, Witt said Mitte had endured considerable physical pain throughout his childhood and was on heavy medication.

'It's very sad to know that he was hurting so much and I was not able to be there,' he added, through tears.

'I'm just sorry that he felt so much despair to want to take his life.'

If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org