Godzilla vs Kong Actress Kaylee Hottle Dies at 18 in Car Crash

Kaylee Hottle was a young Deaf actress who portrayed the character Jia in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong and 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. She died at the age of 18. Her death was reported on July 21 following a car crash in Maryland accident. She died on route to a nearby hospital.

Kaylee and her parents are all Deaf individuals, and four generations of Joshua’s family come from the Deaf community. The late actress attended the Texas School for the Deaf.

They released a statement on July 21 on Facebook:

“It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking news that one of our TSD seniors, Kaylee Hottle, tragically passed away yesterday in a car accident in Frederick, Maryland. Our hearts are with Kaylee’s family, friends, classmates, and everyone who knew and loved her during this incredibly difficult time.

At this time, we have very limited information and ask that everyone respect the privacy of Kaylee’s family and refrain from sharing or speculating about the circumstances surrounding the accident,”

Kaylee’s acting career began in 2017 when she first appeared in an ad for the ASL translation app Convo. Producers who had worked on the 2017 film Kong: Skull Island thought she “matched the character description” for Jia, the orphan who forms a bond with King Kong through sign language in the movies, when they saw the ad.

Kaylee costarred in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong with Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza González, Rebecca Hall and more. In the movies, Kaylee’s character Jia is the adoptive daughter of Hall’s character Dr. Ilene Andrews, who takes her in after meeting her on Skull Island. Hall, Henry and Kaylee reprised their roles for 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.