Deaf actress Kaylee Hottle, who starred in the 2021 hit Godzilla vs. Kong and its 2024 sequel, has died at age 18 following a car accident on Tuesday (July 21).
As reported by The New York Times, the young actress’ deaf was confirmed by her father, Joshua Hottle, and the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin, where she had studied. She appeared as a deaf orphan in Godzilla vs. Kong, in which she communicated to King Kong through American Sign Language. Her co-stars, Rebecca Hall and Alexander Skarsgård, also learned ASL to communicate with her on set. She later reprised the role in the 2024 sequel, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Her father shared in a Facebook livestream that he was about to fly from Texas to Maryland to retrieve her body.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking news that one of our TSD seniors, Kaylee Hottle, tragically passed away yesterday in a car accident in Frederick, Maryland,” the Texas School for the Deaf wrote in a statement. “Our hearts are with Kaylee’s family, friends, classmates, and everyone who knew and loved her during this incredibly difficult time. At this time, we have very limited information and ask that everyone respect the privacy of Kaylee’s family and refrain from sharing or speculating about the circumstances surrounding the accident.”
Authorities told TMZ that Hottle was riding as a passenger in a 1995 Honda Accord in Frederick, Maryland when the vehicle crashed into a roadside ditch on Tuesday morning. Her father said he was informed this morning that after authorities responded to the accident, she died on the way to a nearby hospital. Police noted that “excessive speed” was believed to be a contributing factor in the crash. The 19-year-old driver was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, per reports.
