‘Godzilla’ Child Star Dies at 19
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Kaylee Hottle, the deaf actress who won over audiences as Jia in the Godzilla franchise, has died after a car crash in Maryland.
She was 19.
Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed the news to https://www.tmz.com/2026/07/21/kaylee-hottle-dead/?adid=braze-browser-notification" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" title="https://www.tmz.com/2026/07/21/kaylee-hottle-dead/?adid=braze-browser-notification">TMZ, saying his daughter was involved in a serious crash early Tuesday morning and that officials later told him her heart stopped on the way to the hospital.
Joshua Hottle also https://www.tmz.com/2026/07/21/kaylee-hottle-dead/?adid=braze-browser-notification" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" title="https://www.tmz.com/2026/07/21/kaylee-hottle-dead/?adid=braze-browser-notification">shared the devastating news in an emotional livestream conducted in American Sign Language, https://www.tmz.com/2026/07/21/kaylee-hottle-dead/?adid=braze-browser-notification" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" title="https://www.tmz.com/2026/07/21/kaylee-hottle-dead/?adid=braze-browser-notification">explaining that he was flying from Texas to claim his daughter’s body.
Hottle made her feature-film debut in 2021’s Godzilla vs.
Kong, playing Jia, the young deaf girl who communicated with Kong through sign language, before reprising the role in 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
A member of a multigenerational deaf family, Hottle https://www.tmz.com/2026/07/21/kaylee-hottle-dead/?adid=braze-browser-notification" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" title="https://www.tmz.com/2026/07/21/kaylee-hottle-dead/?adid=braze-browser-notification">began acting in commercials as a child and later appeared in an episode of Magnum P.I. Her death comes just as her career was beginning to gain momentum.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/kaylee-hottle-godzilla-child-star-dies-at-19/">Read more at The Daily Beast.