Kaylee Hottle, the deaf actress who played Jia in Godzilla vs. Kong and its sequel Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, has died following a car accident in Maryland.
Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed the news to TMZ and in a 23-minute Facebook livestream delivered in American Sign Language.
He said he received a call about a serious car accident on Tuesday morning and was told shortly afterwards that his daughter’s heart had stopped on the way to the hospital.
Joshua said he was flying from Texas to Maryland to claim her body.
What happened to Kaylee Hottle?
Details of the accident remain limited.
Kaylee was involved in a car accident in Maryland on Tuesday morning, July 21.
Emergency services responded and she was transported towards a hospital, but her heart stopped en route.
No further details about the circumstances of the crash, including the location, whether other vehicles were involved, or whether anyone else was injured, have been released at the time of writing.
Maryland authorities have not yet issued a public statement.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Hottle has died after being involved in a serious accident. Credit: Amy Sussman/FilmMagic/Getty
Who was Kaylee Hottle?
Kaylee Hottle was an American actress born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2007.
She came from an all-deaf family spanning four generations of deaf relatives on her father’s side. She was fluent in American Sign Language from birth.
She got her start in front of the camera at nine years old, appearing in a public service announcement for the video messaging app Glide, which is widely used within the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
In 2017, she appeared in a commercial for Convo Relay, a video relay service.
In 2018, she featured in a short film called 10 Deaf Children: One Powerful Message, produced by ASL Nook.
It was the Convo commercial that changed everything.
An assistant director from the 2017 film Kong: Skull Island saw it and passed Kaylee’s name to casting director Sarah Halley Finn, who was looking for a deaf actress to play the character Jia in Godzilla vs. Kong.
Kaylee was cast when she just was 13 years old.
What role did Kaylee Hottle play in Godzilla vs. Kong?
Kaylee played Jia, a young deaf orphan who is the last surviving member of the Iwi people from Skull Island.
Jia is the only character who can communicate with Kong, doing so through sign language.
She is raised by Dr Ilene Andrews, played by Rebecca Hall, and acts as the emotional heart of the film.
Godzilla vs. Kong was released in 2021 and grossed $470 million worldwide, making it one of the most successful films released during the pandemic era.
Kaylee’s performance was widely praised, particularly for bringing a quiet emotional depth to a franchise built around spectacle.
Hall and co-star Alexander Skarsgård both learned American Sign Language so they could communicate with Kaylee on set when they were not filming.
Hall has spoken in multiple interviews about how the experience of working with Kaylee changed the way she approached the role.
Did Kaylee Hottle appear in the sequel?
Kaylee reprised the role of Jia in Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, released in March 2024.
In the sequel, Jia’s role is significantly expanded. She discovers a deeper connection to the Hollow Earth and plays a central role in the story’s climax.
The film grossed $572.5 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews from audiences, though critics were mixed. Kaylee was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for her work in the film.
At the world premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on March 25, 2024, Kaylee walked the red carpet alongside Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, and Dan Stevens.
Hottle in Godzilla vs Kong. Credit: Warner Bros.
What else had Kaylee Hottle appeared in?
Outside the Godzilla franchise, Kaylee appeared in the NBC reboot of Magnum P.I., playing a character named Joon in a season four episode.
According to IMDb, she had a film in pre-production at the time of her death titled What Doesn’t Kill Us. No further details about the project have been released.
How did Kaylee’s father break the news?
Joshua Hottle announced his daughter’s death in a 23-minute Facebook livestream conducted entirely in American Sign Language. He was visibly distraught throughout.
He said he had received a call informing him Kaylee had been in a serious car accident.
A second call came shortly after, telling him that her heart had stopped while she was being taken to hospital.
He said he was flying from Texas to Maryland to be with her.
The livestream was shared widely across social media on Tuesday morning and was the first public confirmation of Kaylee’s death, before TMZ published its report.
What has the reaction been?
Tributes have begun pouring in from across the entertainment industry and the deaf community.
Kaylee was seen as a trailblazer for deaf representation in mainstream Hollywood, having landed a major franchise role at just 13 years old in a film that was seen by tens of millions of people worldwide.
Her casting in Godzilla vs. Kong was widely celebrated as a rare example of authentic deaf casting in a blockbuster, with a deaf actress playing a deaf character and using real ASL on screen.
Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, the studios behind the Godzilla franchise, have not yet issued a public statement at the time of writing.
Kaylee Hottle. Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty
What was Kaylee Hottle’s legacy?
Kaylee Hottle had appeared in two of the highest-grossing monster movies ever made.
She had been nominated for a Saturn Award, had a film in pre-production, and came from a family where deafness was not a limitation but a culture, and she brought that to every role she played.
For millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing children who watched Godzilla vs. Kong, Jia was the first time they saw someone like them at the centre of a Hollywood blockbuster.
That representation came from Kaylee.
This is a developing story. VT will continue to update this article as new information becomes available.
