Kaylee Hottle, Who Played Jia in the ‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’ Films, Has Died at 18

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TV + Movies

By https://thoughtcatalog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/max-AsJirOOLN_s-unsplash.jpg?w=48 January Nelson

Updated 2 hours ago, July 21, 2026

Kaylee Hottle was deaf, and so was the character who made her famous: Jia, the young girl who signed to King Kong. Her father says she was killed in a car accident in Maryland on Tuesday morning.

A car accident in Maryland on Tuesday morning killed Kaylee Hottle, according to her father, Joshua Hottle, who spoke to TMZ.

Kaylee Hottle on the red carpet at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood for the world premiere of “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” on March 25, 2024. Photo by Emma McIntyre / Getty Images.

Joshua said officials called him shortly after the crash to tell him Kaylee’s heart had stopped on the way to the hospital. He shared the news in a nearly 23-minute live stream, explaining in ASL that he had to fly from Texas to claim her body.

At the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood on March 25, 2024, Kaylee Hottle walked the red carpet for the world premiere of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images.

Kaylee grew up in Atlanta and came from a multi-generational deaf family. She got her start in commercials at 9, including a PSA for Glide, a live video messaging app used widely in the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

At Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theater on March 25, 2024, Kaylee Hottle walks the red carpet for the world premiere of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images.

In 2021 she played Jia in “Godzilla vs. Kong,” a teenager who communicates with King Kong through sign language and lives on Skull Island with Rebecca Hall’s Dr. Ilene Andrews. She reprised the role in the 2024 film “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire.”

Kaylee Hottle joins castmates Adam Wingard, Brian Tyree Henry, Fala Chen, Rebecca Hall, and Dan Stevens at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood for the “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” premiere on March 25, 2024. Photo by Emma McIntyre / Getty Images.

She also appeared as a character named Joon in a season 4 episode of the “Magnum P.I.” reboot.

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