“Godzilla vs. Kong” Actress Kaylee Hottle Dies at 18
“Godzilla vs. Kong” Actress Kaylee Hottle Dies at 18
Tommy McArdleTue, July 21, 2026 at 3:11 PM UTC
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Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty -
Kaylee Hottle, the Deaf actress who starred in the last two Godzilla x Kong movies, has died at 18
Her father Joshua Hottle confirmed news of her death in a video he shared to Facebook on Tuesday, July 21
Kaylee portrayed the character Jia in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong and 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Kaylee Hottle, the young actress who starred in the movies Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, has died. She was 18.
TMZ first reported news of Hottle’s death on Tuesday, July 21. Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed to the outlet that Kaylee was killed following a car crash in Maryland on Tuesday morning. He later shared a video to Facebook in which he explained the circumstances of his daughter’s death using American Sign Language. “I am taking a flight that I never would like to take,” Joshua wrote in a caption to the video.
Joshua told TMZ he learned that Kaylee was involved in a serious car accident on the morning of July 21, and he was told she died en route to a hospital. In the video that Joshua shared to Facebook, he said that he was flying from Texas to Maryland in order to claim Kaylee’s body.
Kaylee and her parents are all Deaf individuals, and four generations of Joshua’s family come from the Deaf community, according to TheHouston Chronicle. The late actress attended the Texas School for the Deaf, which released a statement on July 21. “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,” the school wrote on Facebook. “Our hearts are with Kaylee’s family, friends, classmates, and everyone who knew and loved her during this incredibly difficult time.”
Kaylee Hottle in 2021’s Godzilla vs. KongCredit: Warner Bros. Entertainment/Youtube
“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,” the school added.
In a Houston Chronicle interview, Kaylee said that her acting career started when she appeared in a 2017 ad for the ASL translation app Convo. Producers from the 2017 film Kong: Skull Island thought she “matched the character description” for Jia, the orphan who forms a bond with King Kong through sign language in the movies, when they saw the ad.
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Kaylee costarred in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong with Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza González, Rebecca Hall and more. In the movies, Kaylee’s character Jia is the adoptive daughter of Hall’s character Dr. Ilene Andrews, who takes her in after meeting her on Skull Island. Hall, Henry and Kaylee reprised their roles for 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. A sequel to that movie is scheduled to release in March 2027, but it does not appear that Kaylee or Hall are involved with the project.
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Kaylee Hottle on March 25, 2024Credit: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
Skarsgård, in particular, praised Kaylee’s performance in Godzilla vs. Kong and said that he learned American Sign Language on the movie’s set during a 2021 interview with the pop culture website Junkee.
“It’s her first movie,” the actor said at the time. “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— … 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.”
Beyond the Godzilla x Kong franchise, Kaylee acted for the screen in a 2021 episode of Magnum P.I. In 2024, she received a nomination for the Saturn Awards’ Best Younger Performer in a Film award for her performance in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
