Breaking Bad star holds guest talk on disability in Australia

Actor RJ Mitte. Photo / Getty Images

Having a disability is a personal challenge, and to RJ Mitte this means power, not weakness.

The Breaking Bad star, model and disability advocate is in Australia ahead of giving a guest talk, Overcoming Adversity, in Sydney and Melbourne.

Wednesday was World Cerebral Palsy Day and while in Sydney, Mitte used the occasion to speak out.

"People with disabilities, they don't care about being treated special or unique or anything, they just want a chance to work, to have a career and to live their life without limitation," he told AAP.

"Some people look at disability as a weakness, an illness, something that needs to be cured. And that's not true. To me, a disability is knowledge, it's power.

"It's a personal challenge to yourself, for you to overcome and to adapt."

Mitte revealed that earlier in his career, his family was concerned the entertainment industry could be too great a challenge.

"My mum in particular was very reluctant for me being in this business because of the harshness," Mitte said.

"People will try to belittle and say, "oh you can't do this because of this", and that's a lie.

"You can do anything you want."

And he certainly has. With a string of movies in the pipeline, modelling work for designer Vivienne Westwood, advocacy and DJ-ing, Mitte is getting more out of life than most.

Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn and RJ Mitte in a scene from Breaking Bad.

In terms of acting roles, he doesn't see his disability as a reason to be type-cast.

"The thing about being type-cast is you allow yourself to be," he said.

"You have the ability as an actor to change that role and to give it more depth."

Mitte said employers in his industry should not see disability as a liability.

"Just because they have a mental or physical disability does not mean they need any extra help," he said.

"They just want to work."

-AAP