'Breaking Bad' Star Calls Out Assumption People Often Make About Disabilities

In a recent interview with Metro news, “Breaking Bad” actor RJ Mitte called out an assumption people make about disabilities.

Mitte, who has cerebral palsy, is playing a man with muscular dystrophy in the upcoming film “Who’s Driving Doug,” and he has some thoughts about that:

“I don’t know anything about muscular dystrophy,” Mitte told Metro. “I play a character with a disability; it just happens to not be my disability. No one ever thinks about it like that. They assume all disabilities are the same. They think they all go through the same things. They don’t. [Each disability] is unique in their own way. That’s something we have to evolve from.”

“Who’s Driving Doug” follows Doug (Mitte), who hires a driver (Ray William Johnson) to take him on a road trip to escape living with his “oppressively loving mother” (Daphne Zuniga). The film premiered on Feb. 6 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Since his “Breaking Bad” success, Mitte has made headlines advocating for opportunities in Hollywood for people with disabilities. He’s notably been a part of the ReelAbilities Film Festival, an annual series of film screenings, discussions, storytelling sessions and other programs dedicated to highlighting the stories of people with disabilities. In October, he spoke with Oyster magazine about how his “Breaking Bad” role furthered the disability discussion.

It was able to educate [people] in the way of looking past the physical and seeing someone for who they are. When you first watch Breaking Bad, you see Walt Junior, and you see the crutches… but after you’ve watched the show for a while, the crutches start to fade away. You no longer see a disabled kid, you see a kid who’s just trying to grow and learn.

Related: A Request for RJ Mitte, From a Woman With Cerebral Palsy