The reported Kaylee Hottle death was first shared by TMZ after her father, Joshua Hottle, posted an emotional Facebook livestream. Hottle, the deaf actor best known for playing Jia in Godzilla vs. Kong, was 18, according to the report.
What Joshua Hottle said about the crash
Joshua Hottle said in American Sign Language that the fatal crash happened in Maryland on Tuesday. He was in Texas when authorities contacted him about the collision, then later received another call saying his daughter’s heart had stopped while she was being taken to the hospital.
He told TMZ he was flying to Maryland to claim her body. In the Facebook livestream, which ran for 23 minutes, he wrote in the caption: “I am taking a flight that I never would like to take.” There is no elegant way to soften that sentence, and none is needed.
People commenting on the post offered condolences and described Kaylee as “brilliant and kind,” the sort of grief that arrives fast and messy on social media.
Her path from Austin to the MonsterVerse
Kaylee Hottle was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2007 and raised in Austin, Texas, where she attended the Texas School for the Deaf.
She began acting at age 9. Her first screen role came in a commercial for Glide, a video messaging app widely used by deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
In 2021, she made her major film debut as Jia in Godzilla vs. Kong. The role gave her a central place in the film’s human story rather than the usual “stand near the monster and look worried” assignment, which cinema has offered with great consistency.
Jia lives on Skull Island with Dr. Ilene Andrews, played by Rebecca Hall, and communicates with King Kong through sign language. Kaylee returned to the role in 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Details about the crash have not yet been released.
