Kaylee Hottle, the deaf Godzilla actress, died in a car accident at the age of 18
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Kaylee Hottle, a deaf actress best known for her double role Godzilla He died in a car accident in Maryland early Tuesday, the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said. He was 18 years old.
Hottle was one of two passengers in the car when it veered off the road and crashed into a road in Ijamsville just before 3 a.m. local time. The driver, 19-year-old Frederick, was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, while the other passenger refused treatment, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
High speed is believed to be a factor in the crash, which is under investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
Hottle was a native American Sign Language (ASL) signer, and members of her family are also deaf. His parents, Joshua and Ketsi Hottle, shared emotional video statements about his death on social media.
“The honor of being your mom, Kaylee Hottle,” Ketsi Hottle wrote in her video post.
“I’m taking a flight that I would never want to take,” Hottle’s father wrote.
In Godzilla vs. Kong and the sequel, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Hottle played an orphaned girl named Jia who sees beyond Kong’s menacing appearance and develops a special bond with the monster, communicating with him using sign language.
“I’m sorry to hear this. Kaylee will be greatly missed,” he said Godzilla vs. Kong star Millie Bobby Brown posted on Instagram.
Star Alexander Skarsgård, who learned ASL to communicate with Hottle, told the pop culture website Junkee in 2021 that he and others were impressed by her subtlety and her ability to quickly incorporate the director’s notes into her acting.
In a 2024 interview with the Associated Press, Hottle said through an interpreter that he had never seen a monster movie before it was cast. Godzilla vs. Kongso his father helped him to understand the genre of music.
“I look up to a lot of people, but one person I look up to, a few people I look up to the most, are my parents and my sister,” Hottle signed.
Hottle admitted that while working on the first film, he was worried about whether he would be able to return to his “normal life” afterwards.
“People see me at school, yes, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” signed Hottle.
Hottle has been listed to appear in the upcoming film What Doesn’t Kill Us. He previously appeared in the 2021 TV episode Magnum P.I
“I am very sad. My heart goes out to his family at this unimaginable time,” Alaqua Cox, his star in that film and a deaf actress, wrote on Instagram.
Officials at the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin also announced Hottle’s death on Facebook, writing that counseling and support services will be available to classmates and friends.
“Please keep Kaylee’s loved ones in your thoughts as we mourn this loss together,” the school wrote.
