Deaf actress Kaylee Hottle, wey dem know for her role as Jia for two Godzilla movies, don pass away at age 18. Her papa, Joshua Hottle, confam the death to TMZ, say she die for car accident for Maryland for early morning of July 21.
Joshua, wey dey inside pain, also share the news for 23-minute livestream, using ASL to explain say he fly from Texas to go collect her body. He admit say Kaylee bin get serious car accident before dem call am, and her heart stop on the way to hospital.
Kaylee, wey come from Atlanta, Georgia, be part of multi-generational deaf family. She start acting career by starring for commercials. One of those roles na for Glide, a live video messaging app wey deaf and hard-of-hearing community dey use. She be only nine years old at that time.
She star as Jia for 2021 movie Godzilla vs. Kong, where she play teenager wey communicate with King Kong via sign language. Her character live for Skull Island alongside Rebecca Hall’s on-screen persona, Dr. Ilene Andrews. She later reprise the role for 2024 follow-up Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire.
Kaylee born for 2007, and for 2024 interview with Chron, she describe how casting director Sarah Halley Finn scout her for Godzilla role after she appear for another advert, this time for video relay service app Convo. She talk say, “I had a connection with Convo. They asked me to be in a commercial one day, and so I did that commercial. And then the assistant director of Kong: Skull Island saw me, and they thought I matched the character description of Jia.”
She also explain how she tackle the role, saying, “I would read the script, and director Adam Wingard would explain to me exactly what he wanted me to do. And I also had my parents’ support and translation of the script, and I just brought it to life.”
