Beloved “Breaking Bad” star RJ Mitte tragically passed away on Monday, October 14, after being found dead in Texas by suicide. And now, new information has come to light regarding when his celebration of life will be held.
According to TMZ, it will take place at The Mitte Arts and Cultural Center in Brownsville, TX, on Friday, Oct. 16.
The location is meaningful to Mitte as he served as the president of the Roy F. and Joann Cole Mitte Foundation. He was remembered by Brownsville Mayor John Cowen Jr. as a “force for good.”
His family has also asked for donations to cerebral palsy research in place of flowers.
Inside RJ Mitte’s Final Days
Mitte’s “Breaking Bad” co-star Luis Moncada, who played Marco Salamanca on the AMC drama and its spinoff “Better Call Saul,” paid tribute to his late friend, providing some details on his final days. The two had reunited earlier in October at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico, where Mitte went on his first hot air balloon ride alongside Moncada.
Moncada took a video of the two together, in which Mitte can be seen resting his head on Moncada’s shoulder.
And when speaking on “TMZ Live” Tuesday, Moncada admitted that when they reunited, Mitte admitted he was being pulled in different directions and was under a lot of stress.
Following the news, Moncada also posted a long tribute on Instagram in which he spoke about their final days.
“I was just with RJ a few days ago. We spent hours hanging out and talking, played in a charity golf tournament, and I took him on his very first hot air balloon ride. When it was time for him to leave, I dropped him off at the airport to head home,” he wrote. “It was incredibly difficult to watch him walk away because I knew he was struggling with some difficult feelings. I offered him a place in my home where he could take a step back, reset, and have some time to think without the pressures of everyday life. But he told me he needed to go, so I made him promise to call me if he ever needed to talk or needed anything at all. 😔”
RJ Mitte Talked About Being Overlooked Due To His Disability
Mitte was a very big advocate for disabled actors, as he had cerebral palsy, which he was diagnosed with at three years old. In text messages obtained by the Daily Mail, Mitte was seen talking about the difficulties he faced in the industry due to his disability.
Over the course of eight years, Mitte sent messages to a longtime friend in which he talked about wanting to be looked at for his acting abilities. Still, all people could see were his disabilities and limitations.
“When I go for a part, they sometimes tell me that it’s not a character with a disability, and I’m like why can’t the character be disabled?” he wrote in a text dated April 7, 2017. “They get real uncomfortable when I say that.”
“I can do any role, but some of [the casting agents and directors] are (expletive) who won’t even look at me,” he wrote in another message. “I want to put them on blast, but I won’t now.”
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Details Emerge on RJ Mitte’s Upcoming Celebration of Life Service: REPORT