One of Switched at Birth’s newest additions is RJ Mitte, a young actor coming away from one of the most historic moments in his career, as well as TV as a whole. “What I was able to learn and bring from Breaking Bad was so much,” RJ reminisces. “What I learned from Bryan [Cranston, who played his meth-cooking TV dad] …everything about it was truly remarkable. It was a master acting class.”
Now, our very own Walt Jr. is moving on to play Campbell on SAB, “this premed student working at the free clinic that Daphne’s working at,” he specifies. Naturally, a love triangle ensues (this is after all ABC Family), but RJ is reluctant to give anything away: “You’ll just have to watch and see!”
“It’s a good set – I’ve been really lucky,” RJ says of the transition from Breaking to Bay and Daphne’s little production. “Breaking Bad was pretty much my first role, which was great, and I’m very lucky to be a part of another great cast and set now!”
And what about the differences between Walt Jr. (or Flynn, as he liked to be called) and Campbell? “Campbell is very diff from Walt Jr – he’s a snowboarder! He’s doing what he’s doing!”
But the transition was still no casual matter. “Going from one show to another, I was a little nervous – you hope you are different,” RJ concedes. “I was afraid people would just be like, ‘there’s the kid from Breaking Bad’.” But after his 6-year stint on the set of the AMC hit, he knows a thing or two about character. “When you build a character, you take the knowledge you have and breath air into it – that’s what you hope for,” he says. “I take parts of me and add a little bit from each part.”
And that’s exactly what he’s done with Campbell. “I’m ready for people to see me in a different character,” RJ says. “And we’ll take it from there!”
Switched at Birth airs on January 13th at 8pm on ABC Family.