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Kaylee Hottle, the young actress who starred in "Godzilla vs. Kong" and "Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire," has died at 18.
Hottle's dad, Joshua Hottle, confirmed the death to TMZ, noting the budding star died in a car crash in Maryland the morning of Tuesday, July 21. According to the outlet, he shared the news in a video posted on his Facebook page, explaining in American Sign Language that he flew in from Texas to claim his daughter's body.
The Frederick County Sheriff's Office in Maryland confirmed Hottle was one of two passengers in the 2 a.m. crash, in which a 19-year-old man was allegedly driving at "excessive" speeds before traveling off the right side of the road and striking a culvert, or tunnel. Hottle was transported to the hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, while the driver went to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
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The crash is under investigation, the office said.
USA TODAY has reached out to Hottle's rep for comment.
Hottle, who was also deaf, starred in the 2021 and 2024 "Godzilla vs. Kong" films as Jia, an orphaned Iwi native and adopted daughter of Kong expert and linguist Dr. Ilene Andrews, played by English actress Rebecca Hall. Jia goes on to form a unique bond with the giant ape, where the young girl and Kong sign with each other.
Hottle also starred in a 2021 episode of "Magnum P.I." as Joon and was attached to "What Doesn't Kill Us," a superhero film that was still in pre-production, according to IMDb.
Hottle was a fourth-generation deaf actress. After the 2021 "Godzilla vs. Kong" film, she told blog The Daily Moth that she had to teach the cast how to sign.
"They had never interacted with a deaf person before," she said, in ASL. "I had to explain how to sign and use facial expressions. That was the hard part, but when they picked up on it, it was fine. I didn't really have challenges; they were very accommodating. Some of the workers learned how to sign."
And she told WABC7 New York City in 2024 that her roles were "going to make such a big impact."
"Representation means to me, it shows where I come from and who I represent and what I'm representing for," Hottle said. "Jia in the movie, she represents bravery. And I represent the deaf community. And I also represent Asian Americans as well. So I truly care so much about representation."
This story has been updated to include additional information.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kaylee Hottle, 'Godzilla vs. Kong' actress, dead at 18
