When RJ Mitte began acting, his goal was to find a character which would allow him to educate audiences about cerebral palsy. With his role in Breaking Bad, he not only accomplished his goal, but found himself on an Emmy Award-winning television show. On Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 6:30 p.m. in Rosse Hall, Mitte will give a speech titled “Overcoming Adversity: Turning a Disadvantage to an Advantage.”
“We were drawn to bringing Mitte to campus because of the nature of his lecture, in which he engages the audience in a discussion about how he has overcome the challenges of his disability,” said Rachel Hall ’15, a neuroscience major from Los Angeles and member of the Student Lectureships committee, one of the sponsors of the event. “Discrimination based on disability — physical and mental — is something that is far too often overlooked.”
Mitte, who played the role of Walter “Flynn” White Jr., the son of a terminally ill chemistry teacher driven to drug manufacturing to ensure his family’s well-being, won a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the ensemble cast of the AMC television show.
Since Breaking Bad’s conclusion in 2013, Mitte has continued his involvement in film acting as well as in production and direction. A spokesman for the advocacy group Inclusion in the Arts & Media of People with Disabilities and ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy, Mitte continues to push for more widespread recognition of acting talent within disabled groups.
In addition to Student Lectureships, sponsors of Mitte’s talk include the Discrimination Advisors, Social Board, Peer Counselors, Student Accessibility and Support Services, the psychology department and the neuroscience program.
—Matthew Eley '15