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Kaylee Hottle, the young actress recognized for her roles in “Godzilla vs. Kong” and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” has died at 18. Her father, Joshua Hottle, shared the heartbreaking news during a live stream on Facebook. Speaking in American Sign Language, he said Kaylee was killed in a car accident early on July 21 in Maryland, and that he had to travel from Texas to the East Coast to claim her body.
Hottle portrayed Jia, an orphaned Iwi girl with a profound connection to Kong, in the latest Monsterverse films. In “Godzilla vs. Kong,” Jia became one of the franchise’s most emotionally resonant characters, serving as a powerful link between humans and Titans. Like the character she played, Hottle was deaf, and she came from a family with multiple generations of deaf relatives, bringing important deaf representation to a major Hollywood blockbuster. Her death marks the loss of a gifted young performer whose promise was only beginning to unfold.
