Godzilla actress Kaylee Hottle dies in Maryland car crash

Kaylee Hottle, the deaf actor who reached national audiences as Jia in two Godzilla films, died in a Maryland car crash at 18. The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said the vehicle she was riding in left the road and hit a culvert just before 3 a.m. Tuesday in Frederick County.

Investigators said Hottle was a passenger in a single-vehicle collision. A 19-year-old man was driving and survived with non-life-threatening injuries. Hottle was the only person in the car who died.

Hottle’s father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed her death. Her role as Jia in Godzilla vs. Kong in 2021 and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire in 2024 made her one of the most recognizable young deaf performers in a major studio franchise. For audiences who saw the films, Hottle’s presence mattered because it put a deaf actor at the center of a global action series rather than at its margins.

The visibility carried weight beyond the box office. Hottle was deaf, and the parts she played brought disability representation into a franchise watched by broad mainstream audiences. That made her work notable well beyond a single character credit, especially in an industry where deaf performers have often had limited access to prominent roles.

Hottle was also a senior at the Texas School for the Deaf. Her death drew attention from entertainment and local news outlets alike, reflecting how quickly she had become known to viewers in Hollywood and across the country. At 18, she had already built a career that linked a blockbuster film series with a level of representation rare for a young deaf actor.