Kaylee Hottle had one more big screen role on the horizon before her death.
Two days after Godzilla vs. Kong The actress died in a car accident in Maryland, screenwriter Andy Mingo revealed that she was ready to star in his next superhero movie. What doesn’t kill us.
“We were really looking forward to working with someone so talented,” Mingo said. TMZ in a July 23 statement, “and we are heartbroken by his death.”
Hottle joined the project in 2024.
The film centers on a group of friends with disabilities who dream of becoming superheroes by turning their disabilities into strengths, and Hottle’s character was written as a deaf person whose other senses, including pattern recognition, are heightened as a result.
Mingo co-writer Anna Campbell spoke about the impact Hottle, who was deaf, had already had on the industry: “Kaylee was the kind of person who has been so spectacular and had such a major impact on the industry. She didn’t let her disability stop her and that’s exactly what we hope to perpetuate with a film like this. It’s a huge loss and we’re devastated.”
Mingo said he believes Elliot Woolrich and Lucas Woolrich, who wrote the story on which the film is based, will keep Hottle’s character in the script out of respect, preserving his spirit within the film.
Hottle broke through for the first time in 2021 Godzilla vs. Kongstarring alongside Millie Bobby Brown, Alexander Skarsgård and Brian Tyree Henry, before reprising her role in the 2024 sequel, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Reflecting on deaf representation in Hollywood in a 2024 interview with Houston’s Chron, she said she was encouraged by the direction the industry was taking: “I see a lot of positive things. There aren’t many roles or opportunities for deaf people. And now we can, [and] “I’m able to get them and I think I’ve seen more and more growth and positivity.”
