Kaylee Hottle
{{Short description|American actress}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Kaylee Hottle
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| birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|16|2024|March|27}}
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| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 2021–present
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Kaylee Hottle (born 2007) is a deaf American actress who stars in and is primarily known for her appearance in the 2021 film Godzilla vs. Kong and its 2024 sequel film Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. For the latter, she was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.
Background
Hottle was born in 2007 to an all-deaf family, with her father's side having four generations of deaf relatives, and is fluent in American Sign Language.{{cite news | last=Thompson | first=Avery | url=https://hollywoodlife.com/feature/who-is-kaylee-hottle-godzilla-vs-kong-4362157/ | title=Kaylee Hottle: 5 Things About The Deaf Actress Who's 'Godzilla Vs. Kong's Breakout Star | work=Hollywood Life | date=March 31, 2021 | accessdate=March 28, 2024 }} In 2017, she appeared in a commercial for the video relay service Convo.{{cite news | last=Nudo | first=Meredith | url=https://www.chron.com/culture/tv/article/godzilla-kong-deaf-actress-19367942.php | title= 'Godzilla x Kong' series' Kaylee Hottle forging bright future in Hollywood | work=Houston Chronicle | date=March 27, 2024 | accessdate=March 28, 2024 }} She also appeared in other commercials, as well as the informational project 10 Deaf Children: One Powerful Message, aimed at promoting support for the Deaf community in their pursuit of equal rights.{{cite news | author=Staff | url=https://youngentertainmentmag.com/speak-follow-dreams-kaylee-hottle-gives-advice-hearing-impaired-ahead-godzilla-x-kong-new-empire/ | title='Speak up and follow your dreams.' Kaylee Hottle Gives Advice for the Hearing Impaired Ahead of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire | work=Young Entertainment | date=March 27, 2024 | accessdate=March 28, 2024 }} She attends the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin, Texas{{cite news |last=Knight |first=Drew |date=April 1, 2021 |title=Texas School for the Deaf student lands monster-sized role in 'Godzilla vs. Kong' |url=https://www.kvue.com/article/news/entertainment-news/texas-school-for-the-deaf-student-lands-monster-sized-role-in-godzilla-vs-kong/269-fde314f0-ec29-4887-aad2-dca9af471e6e |accessdate=March 28, 2024 |work=kvue.com |publisher=KVUE}} where she competes in Track and Field.
For the 2021 film Godzilla vs. Kong, casting director Sarah Halley Finn looked for a deaf actor for the deaf character Jia through a network of casting directors and theaters, and she was guided to Hottle by an assistant director from the earlier film Kong: Skull Island who saw her in a Convo commercial. The film was Hottle's feature-film debut. Starring actors, Rebecca Hall and Alexander Skarsgård, learned ASL so they and Hottle could communicate on set when not acting,{{cite news | last=Lewis | first=Maria | url=https://junkee.com/alexander-skarsgard-godzilla-vs-kong-interview/291191 | title=We Hung Out With Alexander Skarsgård On The Set Of 'Godzilla Vs Kong' And It Was Wild | work=Junkee | date=March 25, 2021 | accessdate=March 28, 2024 }} like how Jia uses ASL to communicate with Kong. Hottle reprised her role as Jia for the 2024 film Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,{{cite news | last=Warren | first=Peter | url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/kaylee-hottle-deaf-actress-18752370.php | title=Kaylee Hottle, actor with Texas School for the Deaf roots, stars in Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire | work=Houston Chronicle | date=March 25, 2024 | accessdate=March 28, 2024 }} for which she was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor at the 52nd Saturn Awards.{{cite web | url=https://www.saturnawards.org/ | title=The 52nd Annual Saturn Awards Nominations | work=saturnawards.org | publisher=Saturn Awards | date= | accessdate=December 10, 2024 }}{{cite news | last=Hipes | first=Patrick | url=https://deadline.com/2024/12/saturn-awards-nominations-2025-list-1236195149/ | title='Dune: Part Two', 'Fallout' Lead Saturn Awards Nominations | work=Deadline Hollywood | date=December 5, 2024 | accessdate=December 11, 2024 }}
References
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