Kaylee Hottle, ‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’ Actress, Dies At 18

Kaylee Hottle, ‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’ Actress, Dies At 18

Kaylee Hottle, the deaf actress known for her role as Jia in the MonsterVerse films, died Tuesday, July 21, following a car accident in Maryland. Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed the death to TMZ.

Joshua Hottle, who is also deaf, announced the news during a 23-minute Facebook livestream conducted in American Sign Language (ASL). In the video, which was posted from Texas, he wrote, I am taking a flight that I never would like to take. According to Joshua, authorities called him to report a serious collision, later informing him that Kaylee's heart had stopped while she was being transported to the hospital. He stated he was flying to Maryland to claim her body.

The Texas School for the Deaf in Austin, where Hottle was a senior, expressed its sadness in a Facebook post, stating the actress tragically passed away yesterday in a car accident in Frederick, Maryland.

Hottle was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2007 and grew up in Austin. Born into a multi-generational deaf family, she was fluent in ASL. Her entry into the entertainment industry began at age 9 with a commercial for the video relay service Convo and a PSA for the messaging app Glide, both of which serve the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

She gained international recognition in 2021 with her feature-film debut in Godzilla vs. Kong. Hottle played Jia, a native of Skull Island and ward of Dr. Ilene Andrews, played by Rebecca Hall. Her character's ability to communicate with King Kong through sign language created a central bond in the narrative. Hottle later reprised this role in the 2024 sequel, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire.

Her performance in the second film earned her a nomination for Best Younger Performer in a Film at the 52nd Saturn Awards in 2025, presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.

On the set of the first film, co-stars Alexander Skarsgård and Rebecca Hall learned ASL to communicate with Hottle when cameras were not rolling. Skarsgård, speaking to Junkee in 2021, described the 9-year-old Hottle as professional and noted her ability to quickly implement notes from director Adam Wingard.

"It's fascinating how comfortable she is in front of the camera and how quickly she takes notes from the director Adam (Wingard). He'll explain something and she'll be like 'got it, got it' then she'll just do it and everyone's like 'the f--k … 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."

Alexander Skarsgård, actor, via Junkee

Hottle advocated for authenticity in casting. Speaking through an interpreter to Junkee, she explained that Deaf people are aware of their own language and they’re more familiar with the culture, which is why it is important for deaf actors to play deaf characters.

Beyond the Godzilla franchise, Hottle appeared as a character named Joon in a season 4 episode of the Magnum P.I. reboot in 2021. According to IMDb, she also had a project in pre-production titled What Doesn’t Kill Us.

While most reports list the actress as 18, her IMDb profile lists her birth date as May 1, 2007, which would make her 19. Her death has prompted an outpouring of grief on social media, with fans praising her as a bright light and noting the representation she brought to the MonsterVerse.

Joshua Hottle stated the family is currently preparing arrangements.