Kaylee Hottle plays Jia in "Godzilla vs. Kong" (2021). Hottle, a Korean American actress, died Tuesday in a traffic accident. She was 18. [AP]
Kaylee Hottle plays Jia in "Godzilla vs. Kong" (2021). Hottle, a Korean American actress, died Tuesday in a traffic accident. She was 18. [AP]

Kaylee Hottle, a Korean American actress who appeared in two films in the "Godzilla" franchise, died Tuesday in a traffic accident. She was 18.

The Frederick County Sheriff's Office in Maryland said a single-vehicle crash occurred around 3 a.m. Tuesday on a road in Ijamsville, involving a 1995 Honda Accord carrying three people, killing one. The vehicle left a two-lane, two-way road and struck a drainage structure. The sheriff's office said speed appears to have been a factor and is investigating the exact circumstances.

Hottle was transported to a hospital but did not survive. The driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and another passenger declined treatment, the sheriff's office said.

Born to deaf parents, Hottle was also deaf and fluent in American Sign Language. Her mother is a Korean American who was born in South Korea and adopted to the United States. Hottle was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and attended the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin, Texas.

She gained recognition playing Jia — the last survivor of Skull Island's Iwi tribe and the only person able to communicate with Kong through sign language — in "Godzilla vs. Kong" (2021) and "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" (2024). She was also nominated for best performance by a younger actor at the 2024 Saturn Awards.

In a video statement posted to Facebook, her father, Joshua Hottle, said Kaylee's mother and four siblings "are deeply grieving and mourning together at home," adding that he was traveling from Texas to Maryland "to bring Kaylee's remains home."

He said his daughter had been airlifted from the scene to a hospital but that her heart stopped before she arrived. "I am so grateful for the 18 years we had together, and I am heartbroken that we did not get more time," he said.


kate01@heraldcorp.com