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Godzilla vs Kong starKaylee Hottle has died at age 18.
Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed her death in an interview with TMZ.He told the outlet in American Sign Language (ASL) that Kaylee died in a car accident earlier on Tuesday (Jul. 21) in Maryland. He signed that he was in Texas when he received a call from the authorities about the collision before receiving a follow-up call saying that his daughter's heart had stopped on the way to the hospital. In a Facebook post, Mr. Hottle said he was flying to Maryland to claim her body, writing: "I am taking a flight that I never would like to take."
Texas School for the Deaf, where Kaylee was a senior, also confirmed the news on social media, writing in a statement (via Variety):
"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."
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2007, Kaylee Hottle got her start in acting by starring in commercials. She was also deaf and came from a multi-generational deaf family. At the age of nine, she starred in an ad for the live messaging app Glide, which is used by many members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. In 2021, Kaylee got her big break when she starred in Godzilla vs Kong, where she portrayed Jia, a teenager living on Skull Island with Dr Ilene Hall (Rebecca Hall). In the film, Jia communicates with Kong using sign language, forming a close bond with him.
According to Kaylee herself, the stars aligned when she was scouted for the role while starring in a commercial for a video relay service, Convo, as she told Chron in 2024 that the assistant director of Kong: Skull Island "saw me and they thought I matched the character description of Jia."
In 2024, Kaylee reprised her role as Jia for Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, a sequel which she'd previously described as focusing on a mutual quest for coexistence. For her performance in The New Empire, she was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Younger Performer in a Film. Outside of her work in the Godzilla X Kong movies, she also had a credit on a 2021 episode of Magnum P. I and was an athlete who competed in Texas School for the Deaf's track-and-field team.
We at MovieWeb send our deepest condolences to Kaylee's family and friends at this difficult time.
