Kaylee Hottle, Who Played Jia in Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, Dies Aged 18
Kaylee Hottle, a deaf actress best known for her roles in the Godzilla vs. Kong franchise, has died at age 18 following a car accident in Frederick, Maryland, on Tuesday morning, July 21, 2026.
Hottle portrayed Jia, a young deaf character, in both Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and its 2024 sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Her casting represented a significant milestone for deaf representation in major Hollywood blockbuster films, and her performances were widely praised for bringing authentic representation to the screen.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Hottle came from a multi-generational deaf family. She was a student at Texas School for the Deaf, which shared the news of her passing on Instagram, offering condolences to her family and community.
Her father, Joshua Hottle, publicly announced her death through a Facebook livestream conducted in American Sign Language. At the time of the announcement, he was traveling to Texas to claim her body. Hottle’s passing represents a significant loss to both the entertainment industry and the broader deaf community, where she had emerged as an important voice for representation and visibility in mainstream cinema.