Kaylee Hottle, Jia in the Godzilla vs. Kong films, dies at 19
Kaylee Hottle, the deaf actress who played Jia opposite Kong across two MonsterVerse films, died Tuesday in a car accident in Maryland, her father said. She was 19.
Kaylee Hottle, the young deaf actress who played Jia in the Godzilla vs. Kong films, has died. She was 19.
Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed her death in a Facebook livestream early Tuesday, delivered entirely in ASL. TheWrap reported that he said he was flying from Texas to Maryland to bring his daughter home.
He captioned the video, “I am taking a flight that I never would like to take.”
TheWrap reported she died in a car accident in Maryland. As of this writing, the account of what happened comes from her father’s statement, and further details have not been released.
Kaylee Hottle played Jia opposite Kong in two MonsterVerse films
Hottle made her screen debut in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, cast as Jia, a young deaf girl and the last member of the Iwi people native to Skull Island.
Jia’s bond with Kong carried real weight in the story. She communicates with him in sign language, and their relationship became the emotional center of a movie otherwise built around two giant monsters hitting each other.
She returned to the role in 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, again as one of the few human characters the films asked audiences to care about.
For a franchise that lives and dies on spectacle, the Jia scenes were the quiet part that landed. A lot of that was a child actress holding the screen without a word of spoken dialogue.
A deaf actress in a leading role that mattered
Hottle was deaf, and so is Jia, and the films used ASL as a real part of how the character connected with Kong rather than as set dressing.
That representation meant something to deaf audiences who rarely see themselves in a global blockbuster. Hottle, still a teenager, was the face of it.
She was 19.
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Article compiled and edited by Derek Gibbs (entertainment editor) and the Clownfish TV newsroom.
Hat Tips:
TheWrap, Alex Welch (July 21, 2026), verified for Kaylee Hottle’s death at 19, the car accident in Maryland, her father Joshua Hottle’s ASL Facebook livestream and its caption, and his statement about traveling to Maryland