SerpApi.Org
Godzilla vs. Kong's Kaylee Hottle has died at the age of 18.
The actor, who is deaf, was born in May 2007 to a family with four generations of deaf relatives. She started in the entertainment industry by starring in commercials, including one for Glide, a video messaging app commonly used by deaf individuals.
At just 18 years old, Hottle died following a car accident in Maryland on Tuesday morning, according to TMZ, which spoke to her father, Joshua Hottle. He also shared a livestream video on Facebook about the tragedy titled "I am taking a flight that I would never like to take," in which he said that he flew from Texas to Maryland to identify her body and take custody of his daughter's remains.
Her father added he was initially told she was in critical condition after a car accident and that she was being transported to the hospital. On the way there, though, she passed away.
The actor landed her first feature-length role in Godzilla vs. Kong, in which she played a deaf and orphaned girl named Jia who communicates with Kong using American Sign Language. By the end of the movie, she persuades the gigantic ape to save Godzilla. Anthropological linguist Dr. Ilene Andrews (played by Rebecca Hall) is Jia's adoptive mother.
Released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) in March 2021, Godzilla vs. Kong is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic score of 75% and grossed $470 million at the box office. Hottle and Hall's co-stars in the Adam Wingard-directed movie include Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Lance Reddick, Kyle Chandler, Eiza González, Shun Oguri, Julian Dennison and Demián Bichir.
Later that year, Hottle guest starred in an episode of Magnum P.I. season 4 as Joon. She then returned to the Godzilla franchise for the next sequel, 2024's Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, which also saw the return of Hall and Henry alongside cast members like Dan Stevens, Alex Ferns and Fala Chen. Wingard also came back as director.
The film grossed $572 million, surpassing its predecessor. Hottle's performance as Jia in The New Empire earned her a Saturn Award nomination for Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Film.
After Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, Hottle was cast in a movie called What Doesn't Kill Us, which is currently in pre-production with Anna Campbell and Andy Mingo attached as writers.
