Mitte, who grew up in Louisiana, was a young teen when he auditioned for the breakthrough role after moving to Los Angeles to support his younger sister’s acting career in 2005.
He had said that his first audition in Los Angeles was for a California state public service announcement for an anti-meth commercial.
“Fast forward to auditioning for Breaking Bad, which is still, in my opinion, an anti-meth thing because it doesn’t end well for anyone,” he said on the Joe Vulpis Podcast earlier this month.
His character was based on Gilligan’s late friend who had a more severe case of cerebral palsy and used forearm crutches, which Mitte did not require.
Mitte was seen as playing the role with honesty and accessibility, cracking jokes as a teen whose health condition was rarely mentioned in the series.
Breaking Bad aired on US cable broadcaster AMC for five seasons from 2008-13.
After shooting to fame, Mitte fought for more varied roles and complex depictions of characters with disabilities, both visible and invisible.
“Whenever awards season rolls around, we always hope to see a diverse group of projects that reflect all of us, in body and mind,” he told the BBC in 2021.
“Watching the awareness grow around disability representation has been great to see, but breakthroughs sometimes come in pieces and moments instead of larger change,” he said.
Mitte’s other on-screen credits include Hannah Montana, Switched at Birth, Westhampton and his latest project, Talking to Strangers, which came out earlier this year.
Additional reporting by Rebecka Pieder.
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