Kaylee Hottle, the young actor remembered for her roles in the films Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, died today, July 21, in a car accident in Frederick, Maryland. She was 18.
Her death was announced by her father Joshua Hottle in a Facebook livestream using American Sign Language (he is deaf, as his daughter was). Hottle’s passing was confirmed on social media by Texas School for the Deaf, where she was a high school senior.
“Our hearts are with Kaylee’s family, friends, classmates, and everyone who knew and loved her during this incredibly difficult time,” the school’s statement reads (read it in full below). “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.”
According to Baltimore station WBAL-TV, citing the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, the single-vehicle accident occurred this morning just before 3 a.m. in Ijamsville, Maryland. A preliminary investigation indicates that Hottle was a passenger in a Honda Accord driven, possibly at excessive speeds, by a 19-year-old Maryland man. The Accord apparently left the road and struck a culvert, with the driver suffering non-life-threatening injuries and another passenger uninjured. Hottle was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital.
Born in Atlanta, Hottle is best known for playing Jia in the Godzilla/Kong movies. The character was a deaf orphan adopted by Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall). The child develops a kinship with Kong.
Hottle’s performances drew considerable praise, and for her role in the 2024 sequel she was nominated for a 2025 Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor (Jenna Ortega won the prize for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice).
The young performer was discovered by Kong casting agents after she appeared in a commercial for a video relay service designed for deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired users. Hottle was fluent in American Sign Language.
In addition to the Kong movies, Hottle appeared in a 2021 episode of the TV series Magnum P.I. According to her IMDb page, she was set to appear in the feature thriller What Doesn’t Kill Us, currently in pre-production.
Hottle’s father told TMZ today that he is flying to Maryland to claim his daughter’s body. Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.
