Kaylee Hottle had one more big-screen role on the horizon before her death.
Two days after the Godzilla vs. Kong actress died in a car accident in Maryland, screenwriter Andy Mingo revealed she had been set to star in his upcoming superhero film, What Doesn’t Kill Us.
“We were truly looking forward to getting to work with someone so talented,” Mingo told TMZ in a statement on 23 July, “and are heartbroken by her death.”
Hottle signed on to the project in 2024.
The film centres 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’s co-writer Anna Campbell spoke about the impact Hottle, who was deaf herself, had already made in the industry: “Kaylee was the kind of person who has been so spectacular and has made such an important 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. This is a great loss and we are devastated.”
Mingo said he believes Elliot Woolrich and Lucas Woolrich, who wrote the story the film is based on, will keep Hottle’s character in the script out of respect, preserving her spirit within the film.
Hottle first broke through in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, starring 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 felt encouraged by the direction the industry was heading: “I see a lot of positive things. There’s not a lot of deaf roles or opportunities out there. And so now we’re able, [and] I’m able to get them, and I think I’ve seen more and more growth and positivity.”
