RJ Mitte's anti-bullying campaign and charity work: Why he wanted children with disabilities to feel included

Breaking Bad actor RJ Mitte breathed his last on Monday, October 12. According to reports, the 34-year-old was found dead at his home in Brownsville, Texas. He was suffering from cerebral palsy. Altrhough no official cause of his death has been released as of yet, TMZ reported that Mitte died by suicide. Meanwhile, an investigation is underway. Besides his acting portfolio, Mitte was also a disability rights advocate and activist who engaged in several charity work.

RJ Mitte on disability

Back in 2016, RJ Mitte attended the annual Celebration of Leadership Assembly where he sat down for an interview with the Academy Life Editorial Board. The actor candidly expressed his stance on bullying, philantrophy and being supportive towards children with special abilities.

During the discussion, RJ Mitte shared that people have a tendency to victimise disability even when talking positively about the issue. Although the intention might be good, people tend to differentiate those with special abilities, he said.

RJ Mitte on treating disability with strength

‘It is kind of sad because there is still this tone of sorrow, of what ‘he had to overcome.’ People view disability as weakness,’ pointed out RJ Mitte adding that disability is often portrayed as an ‘illness’ that needs to be cured, fixed and overcome.

But acccording to the Breaking Bad star, living with disability is not a sign of weakness. He emphasised that whetver the condition might be, it should not be viewed as something to get rid of but rather something that needs to be understood with compassion.

RJ Mitte’s anti-bullying campaign

Besides talking about disability, RJ Mitte also supported anti-bullying campaigns. In 2013, he was the speaker against bullying at the University of Windsor where the actor shared his personal experince with getting bullied at school.

RJ Mitte strongly advocated for witnesses and bystanders to step in wherever they saw someone getting bullied. ‘At the end of the day, you can't do it alone. Having those good people around me was very important,’ he said. He urges everyone to stand up for the right cause and get involved in preventing bullying.