Albany, Oregon, U.S.A. – Growing up, I never had role models as a newly disabled kid, but then I watched “Switched at Birth” and saw RJ Mitte, an actor with cerebral palsy.
I started watching everything that he was in.
Mitte died by suicide Oct. 12 at age 34.
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He was the first famous disabled actor that I had come across. At the age of 9, seeing his success gave me hope that I could prove the people who didn’t believe in me wrong.
There’s not been much disability representation, but Mitte made it a viable career path.
I’m looking into acting for my own career but if he hadn’t been successful, my life would have been far more closed off.
I had the honor of getting to meet Mitte at Rose City Comic Con in 2024. He was one of the nicest people that I had met. He had such a calmness to him.
I was exhausted from the day, but he still managed to make me smile.
In my tired state, I accidentally called New Mexico a country, but we still laughed about it.
When I looked at social media after his death, I could see the impact he made on everyone that he met. My mutuals and friends were even posting about meeting him.
He changed my life as a little kid and a teenager – and now as an adult as I get ready to watch “Breaking Bad” for the first time and rewatch movies that I didn’t know he was in because I’ve never seen them.
From what I’ve seen and heard, he truly touched every person he met, even if brief or on screen.
We need more people like RJ Mitte who are kind, calm and also are honest.
That, in itself, can change the world.
McKenzie Andersen is a Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
