In one of his final interviews, RJ Mitte admitted that watching himself back on Breaking Bad could send him into a “spiral” as he focused on what he believed he could have done differently.
RJ Mitte was still promoting his latest work only hours before his death, sharing material on Instagram about an upcoming independent film in which he appeared.
Mitte, best known for portraying Walter White Jr. in Breaking Bad, played the son of Walter White, Bryan Cranston’s chemistry teacher-turned-drug kingpin.
The actor died on Monday, October 12, 2026.
Shortly before his death, an Instagram Story on Mitte’s account promoted One Eye Open, an independent movie scheduled to arrive in U.S. cinemas on Friday, October 16.
The film follows a recent college graduate who becomes the target of burglars, only for the intruders themselves to encounter a supernatural presence.
Mitte’s final permanent Instagram post featured footage from one of his last interviews, recorded just one week before his death.
Speaking on the Joe Vulpis Podcast on October 5, Mitte looked back on his years playing Walter White Jr. and discussed why revisiting his own performances was sometimes difficult.
“I find for me it doesn’t help me,” Mitte said. “I dwell in it. I’m someone that when I mess up or like something happens, I dwell and I spiral. Where it’s like, what could I have done differently? How could I have done that differently?”
Rather than enjoying the experience of rewatching old scenes, Mitte said he tended to focus on mistakes and choices he might have approached another way.
The Breaking Bad scene that challenged him most
Mitte also revisited one of the most emotionally demanding moments he filmed during the series: Walter White Jr.’s final phone conversation with his father.
“I really think for me one of the most complicated scenes that I’ve had to do was that final phone call,” he said.
The scene comes as Walter Jr. begins fully confronting the truth about his father’s criminal identity and what Walter White’s actions have done to the family.
Mitte said he understood the emotional complexity of that scene differently looking back on it as an adult.
“It’s the last time he talks to him. In reality, I didn’t understand it as much as I do now,” he explained.
Even at the time, however, Mitte said he felt significant pressure to make sure the performance captured the right emotional shifts.
He wanted to convey Walter Jr.’s confusion as the character processed the realization that the feared criminal figure known as Heisenberg was actually his father.
Mitte described Walter Jr. as being forced to reconcile the man he knew as a parent with the devastating accusations surrounding him.
“Wait, that’s my dad. That’s my father, and he killed my uncle. Like he’s a murderer,” Mitte said while explaining the character’s state of mind.
He credited the people around him with helping shape the scene, including the directors, series creator Vince Gilligan and Cranston, who was present during filming.
For Mitte, getting that moment right meant capturing several emotions at once rather than simply delivering an angry confrontation.
What he thought happened to Walter Jr. after the finale
The conversation also turned to what life might have looked like for Walter Jr., Skyler White and Holly after Breaking Bad ended.
Mitte’s interpretation was far darker than the relatively hopeful future some fans may imagine for the surviving White family.
“I really don’t see Skyler, Walt Jr and Holly are in the best position now,” he said.
He acknowledged the popular idea that Walter Jr. eventually receives the money his father arranged for him and is able to move forward with his life.
Mitte did not believe the reality would be so straightforward.
“In reality, I see it more like a sadness and a despair, and that they don’t get the money,” he said.
His reasoning was that Walter White had become too significant a criminal figure for authorities simply to stop scrutinizing the surviving members of his family after his death.
Mitte imagined investigators continuing to watch them closely for possible connections to Walter’s money, aliases or criminal network.
“They don’t just go, ‘Okay, well he’s dead, or he’s gone. Y’all have a great life now,’” Mitte said.
From his perspective, the damage Walter caused would continue shaping his family’s lives long after the events shown in the finale.
Breaking Bad changed his life
Despite the emotional weight of looking back on the series, Mitte described joining Breaking Bad as a transformative experience.
He was still a teenager when he became part of the AMC drama and spent a major portion of his adolescence playing Walter White Jr.
Mitte said the cast and crew did not initially understand just how influential the show would eventually become.
“You know, back then we really didn’t realize how impactful the show was going to be,” he said.
For Mitte, its importance was personal as well as professional.
“You know, I spent my teenage life in Breaking Bad,” he added.
The series became the role most closely associated with Mitte throughout his career and introduced him to an international audience alongside Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn and the rest of the show’s cast.
His reflections on the series now form part of one of his final recorded conversations about the work that changed his life.
Mitte was found unresponsive at an address in Brownsville, Texas, believed to be his home, at around 1:30 p.m. on October 12.