Kaylee Hottle, the deaf actress who brought Jia to life in GODZILLA VS. KONG and its sequel, has died at 18.
Texas School for the Deaf, where Hottle was a senior, wrote on Facebook, “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.”
Hottle’s father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed the accident to TMZ, saying it happened Tuesday morning. He shared the news of his daughter’s death in American Sign Language through a Facebook livestream recorded in Texas.
“I am taking a flight that I never would like to take,” he wrote.
Texas School for the Deaf added, “Our hearts are with Kaylee’s family, friends, classmates, and everyone who knew and loved her during this incredibly difficult time.”
Hottle, who was deaf herself and part of a multi-generational deaf family, was cast in GODZILLA VS. KONG in 2021 as Jia, a young orphan from Skull Island who forms a wordless bond with Kong through sign language. It’s a detail that gave the blockbuster monster movie an unexpected tenderness: a child who can’t hear finding a way to communicate with a creature who can’t speak.
In the movie, Jia is taken in by primatologist Ilene Andrews, played by Rebecca Hall, who learns sign language to care for her.
Movieguide®’s -1 review reads:
GODZILLA VS. KONG is pretty much just a spectacular slugfest. However, it provides plenty of big screen thrills and a couple fun surprises. Also, the heart of the movie is Kong’s touching friendship with the little deaf girl. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children for some foul language and many battles between and against giant monsters. Godzilla and King Kong almost kill one another in GODZILLA VS. KONG.
Hottle reprised the role in 2024’s GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE, and she also appeared in a 2021 episode of CBS’s MAGNUM P.I. reboot.
Movieguide® has covered the Monsterverse’s box office success for years, and Hottle’s performance was often singled out as one of the franchise’s quieter strengths — proof that a movie built on city-leveling kaiju brawls could still make room for real human connection. Representation wasn’t a talking point for Jia’s character; it was just who she was.
Details surrounding the crash remain limited, and this story is still developing.
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