Kaylee Hottle, 'Godzilla vs. Kong' Actress, Dies at 18
Kaylee Hottle, the deaf actress best known for playing Jia in two films from the Godzilla vs. Kong franchise, has died at the age of 18.
According to TMZ, Hottle died following a car crash on Tuesday morning in Maryland. Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed her death. Coming from an all-deaf family, he expressed his grief in a Facebook post using American Sign Language alongside the caption, “I am taking a flight that I never would like to take.”
Kaylee Hottle, the deaf actress who played Jia in two Godzilla films, has died at 18 following a car crash in Maryland.
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The Frederick County Sheriff's Office in Maryland said deputies and members of the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services responded at about 2:52 a.m. to a fatal single-vehicle crash involving a 1995 Honda Accord in Ijamsville, near Baltimore.
Authorities said a preliminary investigation found that a 19-year-old Frederick man drove off the right side of the two-lane roadway before striking a culvert. The Sheriff's Office stated, “Excessive speed is believed to be a contributing factor in the collision,” adding that the investigation remains ongoing.
Hottle, who lived in Kyle, Texas, was one of two passengers in the vehicle. She was taken to a trauma center, where she was pronounced dead. The second passenger did not require medical treatment, while the driver was hospitalized with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.
The actress made her feature film debut in the 2021 movie Godzilla vs. Kong at the age of nine before reprising the role of Jia in the 2024 sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Jia is a deaf, orphaned Indigenous Iwi girl rescued on Skull Island by Kong and raised by Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), an anthropological linguist working for Monarch, the U.S. government monster research organization.
One of the defining elements of Jia's character was her ability to communicate with Kong through American Sign Language, creating some of the franchise's most emotional moments.
Before entering the film industry, Hottle appeared in a 2017 Mother's Day commercial for the video relay service app Convo. Her ability to communicate emotion through sign language impressed the filmmakers behind Godzilla vs. Kong and helped earn her the role of Jia.
Reflecting on how she landed the part, Hottle said in a March 2024 profile with the Houston Chronicle:
“I had a connection with Convo. They asked me to be in a commercial one day, and so I did that. And then the assistant director of [Kong: Skull Island] saw me and they thought I matched the character description of Jia,”
She also described her experience working on set:
“I would read the script, and [director] Adam [Wingard] would explain to me exactly what he wanted me to do. And I also had my parents’ support and translation of the script, and I just brought it to life.”
The Texas School for the Deaf, where Hottle studied, paid tribute on Facebook, writing:
“Our hearts are with Kaylee’s family, friends, classmates and everyone who knew and loved her during this incredibly difficult time.”
Actor Alexander Skarsgard also praised Hottle during a March 2021 interview with the Australian pop culture website Junkee, highlighting her professionalism despite it being her first film.
“It’s her first movie. It’s fascinating how comfortable she is in front of the camera and how quickly she takes notes from the director,” he said. “He’ll explain something and she’ll be like, ‘Got it, got it,’ then she’ll just do it and everyone’s like, ‘The fuck … how did she?’ She’s so professional and just incredibly … There’s so much going on on her face, her expression, and the subtleties of that is fascinating to watch.”
