Kaylee Hottle (2007 or 2008 โ July 21, 2026) was a deaf American actress who starred in the monster film Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and its sequel, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024). For the latter, she was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.
๐ค Early Life and Background
Kaylee Hottle was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to an all-deaf family, with her father’s side having four generations of deaf relatives. She was fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). She was of Korean descent through her mother.
She attended the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin, Texas, where she competed in track and field.
๐ฅ Acting Career Beginnings
Hottle’s acting career began with commercials. In 2017, at the age of 9, she appeared in a commercial for the video relay service Convo. She also appeared in other commercials, as well as the informational project 10 Deaf Children: One Powerful Message.
๐ฌ Godzilla vs. Kong and Sequel
For the 2021 film Godzilla vs. Kong, casting director Sarah Halley Finn looked for a deaf actress for the deaf character Jia. She was guided to Hottle by an assistant director from the earlier film Kong: Skull Island (2017) who had seen her in a Convo commercial. The film was Hottle’s feature-film debut.
Starring actors Rebecca Hall and Alexander Skarsgรฅrd learned ASL so they and Hottle could communicate on set when not acting. Also in 2021, she appeared in an episode of the action television series Magnum P.I.
Hottle reprised her role as Jia for the 2024 film Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, for which she was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor at the 52nd Saturn Awards.
๐ Death
Hottle sustained injuries in a single-vehicle collision in Ijamsville, Maryland, on July 21, 2026, at age 18. She was one of three occupants in a vehicle that veered off the road and struck a culvert. The driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries, while the other passenger walked away unharmed.
Police said that “excessive speed” was believed to be a factor. Hottle was airlifted to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center by Maryland State Police, where she was declared dead. Her father announced her death in a Facebook video statement.
| Category | Detail | Category | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | Atlanta, Georgia | Death | July 21, 2026 |
| Notable Films | Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) | Award Nomination | Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor |
| Deaf Family | All-deaf family, four generations on father’s side | Languages | Fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) |
| Education | Texas School for the Deaf | Cause of Death | Single-vehicle collision; excessive speed believed a factor |