Deaf Godzilla Actress Kaylee Hottle Dies at 18

Her family had been deaf for several generations, so she grew up using American Sign Language (ASL). That skill started her film career. As a child she won the role of Jia, a girl who uses sign language to talk to the giant ape, in the 2021 film Godzilla vs. Kong and its 2024 sequel. In a 2021 interview she said it was hard to turn a spoken script into ASL. Film-makers sometimes wanted her to follow the written lines, and did not realise that ASL builds meaning differently. Her parents worked on the translation. Some of her castmates had never met a deaf person, so she taught them to sign. Her co-star Alexander Skarsgard learned ASL so that they could talk off camera.

Her father, Joshua Hottle, who is also deaf, confirmed her death in a livestream before flying from Texas to collect her body. Her other work included a role in the television series Magnum P.I. and advertisements for products made for deaf and hard-of-hearing customers. Hottle was in her final year at the Texas School for the Deaf. The school said it was deeply saddened and asked people not to speculate about the crash. The school is offering counselling to students and staff.