“Godzilla vs Kong” star Kaylee Hottle died in a tragic car accident early Tuesday morning.
She was 18.
The deaf actress’ dad, Joshua Hottle, shared the tragedy with TMZ after posting a tearful Facebook livestream.
He explained in ASL that the fatal crash occurred in Maryland.
Joshua, who was in Texas when he got a call from authorities about the collision, signed that he received a follow-up call stating his daughter’s heart had stopped en route to the hospital.
He told the outlet he was flying to Maryland to claim the teenager’s body.
Joshua referenced this in his 23-minute long Facebook announcement, captioned, “I am taking a flight that I never would like to take.”
Social media users shared their support in the comments, raving over Joshua’s “brilliant and kind” kid.
Kaylee was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2007 but raised in Austin, where she attended the Texas School for the Deaf.
She started acting at 9 years old.
Her first role was a commercial for Glide, a video messaging app popular in the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
Kaylee brought her talents to the big screen in 2021 when she played Jia in “Godzilla vs. Kong.”
Her character, notably, resides on Skull Island with Dr. Ilene Andrews, played by Rebecca Hall, and communicates with King Kong via sign language.
Hall and Alexander Skarsgård made headlines at the time for learning ASL to communicate with her on set — and gushed that she “steals the movie” from her fellow cast members.
“It’s her first movie,” Skarsgård raved to Junkee. “It’s fascinating how comfortable she is in front of the camera and how quickly she takes notes from the director Adam [Wingard].
“He’ll explain something and she’ll be like ‘got it, got it’ then she’ll just do it and everyone’s like, ‘The f–k?’” the actor, 49, added. “She’s so professional and … there’s so much going on on her face. Her expression and the subtleties of that is fascinating to watch.”
Kaylee, who went “with the flow” on set, explained to the outlet through an interpreter why “it’s important having deaf actors plays deaf characters.”
She noted, “Deaf people are aware of their own language and they’re more familiar with the culture.”
In 2024, Kaylee reprised her role as Jia in “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire.”
Her other notable parts include playing Joon in a Season 4 episode of “Magnum P.I.” in 2021.
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