Kaylee Hottle's parents do not know the two male survivors of the car crash that killed their daughter.
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New Details Emerge on Fatal Crash Involving Kaylee Hottle
Kaylee Hottle's parents do not know the two male survivors of the car crash that killed their daughter.The deaf film star, 18, was a passenger in a 1995 Honda A...
The deaf film star, 18, was a passenger in a 1995 Honda Accord that and slammed into a ditch in on Tuesday, with speed playing a factor according to local law enforcement.
The actress's father, Joshua Hottle, told TMZ that his daughter was visiting a female friend in Maryland, but that friend was not in the car during the accident.
He said his daughter was riding in the backseat of the vehicle with two men unknown to the family.
Hottle's father added that the family have yet to confirm what relationship she had with the 19-year-old driver and the other passenger.
The family is waiting for additional information once the autopsy is completed.
Kaylee Hottle's parents do not know the two male survivors of the car crash that killed their 18-year-old daughter; Hottle pictured in 2023
The deaf film star was a passenger in a 1995 Honda Accord (pictured) that veered off the road and slammed into a ditch in Maryland
The family has not yet set a date for memorial and funeral services.
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The investigation into Hottle's death has ruled out impairment as a potential cause for the car crash that killed the actress.
She starred in the 2021 film Godzilla vs Kong and its sequel, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire
She played Jia, a young girl who was able to communicate with King Kong using sign language and had a 'special' connection with him
'We recognize this loss will have a significant impact on our TSD community. Counseling and support services are available for students and staff who may need them, with additional support being provided for Kaylee's classmates and friends.
'Please keep Kaylee's loved ones in your thoughts as we mourn this tremendous loss together.'
Kaylee is perhaps best known for her role of Jia, a young girl who was able to communicate with King Kong using sign language and had a 'special' connection with him.
'Because Kong and my character had a special bond. We signed with each other,' she told The Daily Moth in 2021.
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The script was translated into ASL with the help of Kaylee's parents and another individual, a process that presented some challenges on set.
'I was fine with memorizing the script and signing my lines, but the tough part was signing out the "spoken" parts because we had to change it, and sometimes they’d tell us it was wrong but they didn’t understand that ASL changes almost everything,' she said.
'Because the interpreter said what I said. The producer and director would sometimes say “Don’t say that” and want me to follow the script, but the signs for that sentence would be different in ASL.
'There was one instance where there was a misunderstanding between us related to the ASL translation, which caused a delay, but they later understood.'
Kaylee also taught her castmates how to sign: 'Teaching the cast how to sign. They had never interacted with a deaf person before.
'I had to explain how to sign and use facial expressions. That was the hard part, but when they picked up on it, it was fine. I didn’t really have challenges, they were very accommodating. Some of the workers learned how to sign.'
At the time, Kaylee's co-star Alexander Skarsgard sang her praises, calling her the star of the film.
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Rebecca Hall played Jia's adopted mother, Dr Ilene Andrews
Godzilla vs Kong star Alexander Skarsgard sang Kaylee's praises in a 2021 interview
He even learned ASL in order to communicate with her when they weren't filming.
Kaylee 'steals the movie,' he told Junkee in 2021. 'It's her first movie,' he said. 'It's fascinating how comfortable she is in front of the camera and how quickly she takes notes from the director Adam [Wingard].
'He'll explain something and she'll be like "got it, got it," then she'll just do it and everyone's like "the f- … how did she?" She's so professional and just incredibly … there's so much going on on her face, her expression and the subtleties of that is fascinating to watch.'
According to her IMDb, Kaylee hails from an all-deaf family.
In addition to her role in the Godzilla films, Kaylee appeared on an episode of Magnum PI and did commercials for products that helped deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.
She did a public service announcement for the video chat messenger Glide and a commercial for Convo Relay.
Kaylee was also featured in 10 Deaf Children: One Powerful Message.
Outside the spotlight, she was also an athlete as a member of her school's track and field team.
