The Deaf Actress Who Made Kong Cry On Screen — And Made Millions Of Us Cry With Him

A Commercial For A Sign-Language App Is Literally How This All Started

Kaylee's very first brush with acting was a 2017 ad for the ASL video-relay app Convo. Someone on the crew of Kong: Skull Island happened to catch it, and that one commercial is the entire reason Jia exists on screen at all.

The Casting Search Was Real — They Actually Went Looking For A Deaf Actress

This wasn't a case of casting an able-hearing actor and dubbing signs over it. Casting director Sarah Halley Finn looked for a deaf actress for the deaf character Jia through a network of casting directors and theaters, and an assistant director from Kong: Skull Island who'd seen Kaylee's commercial pointed them straight to her.

She Wasn't Just Playing Deaf — She Was Living It, Four Generations Deep

Kaylee came from an all-deaf family with roots going back generations on her father's side, and ASL was her native language, not something she learned for a role. She once said, "I think that it's important having Deaf actors play Deaf characters," adding that deaf people are more familiar with the culture — and that authenticity is exactly what audiences felt on screen.

Her Co-Stars Literally Learned Sign Language Just To Talk To Her Between Takes

This wasn't a one-way street where Kaylee had to adapt to everyone else. Starring actors Rebecca Hall and Alexander Skarsgård learned ASL so they and Hottle could communicate on set when not acting, turning the set itself into a small, real-world act of accessibility.

Alexander Skarsgård Basically Couldn't Stop Gushing About Her

Her castmate wasn't shy about how impressed he was by a kid on her first-ever film set. Skarsgård said, "It's fascinating how comfortable she is in front of the camera and how quickly she takes notes from the director Adam [Wingard]", describing how she'd absorb direction and nail it almost instantly.

She Was Only 12 When She Booked The Role That Changed Her Life

Kaylee was cast as Jia at just 12 years old for her feature debut in Godzilla vs. Kong, then returned three years later, around age 15, to reprise the role in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Explaining how she handled the process as a kid actor working opposite a CGI ape that wasn't even there, she said her parents helped translate the script and she simply brought it to life scene by scene with Wingard's guidance on set.

The Sequel Gave Jia An Even Bigger Job: Talking To Mothra

In The New Empire, Jia's storyline expanded well beyond Kong. Jia, the only surviving member of the Skull Island Iwi tribe, takes on the role of the Shobijin in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and even as a small child was able to communicate with Kong thanks to their shared ability to use sign language, effectively making her the Monsterverse's new human bridge to its most mythic monster.

Critics And Fans Agreed: She Was One Of The Best Parts Of Both Movies

Her performance didn't just fly under the radar — it earned her a nomination for Best Younger Performer in a Film at the 2025 Saturn Awards for The New Empire. Ahead of that sequel's release, she told Digital Spy how much the role meant to her personally, saying she hoped deaf audiences would watch Jia and feel exactly as seen as she did playing her.

She Was Open To A Third Movie — And Honestly, We're Never Going To Stop Wishing She'd Gotten The Chance

In interviews around The New Empire, Kaylee said she'd love to keep playing Jia in a potential third Monsterverse film, and the ending left the door wide open for Jia's story to continue. Tragically, Kaylee passed away on July 21, 2026 at just 18 years old, in a car accident in Maryland, meaning the role that made her a trailblazer for deaf representation in blockbuster movies is also the one the world will remember her by forever.