Deaf actress in Godzilla vs Kong movie recap

Last Wednesday, the movie “Godzilla and Kong” was released in cinemas and HBO Max. In that movie, it has a young deaf Asian American actress, Kaylee Hottle, who plays as Jia. We released a short interview with Kaylee last Tuesday. This is a recap of Kaylee’s role in the film.

In the movie, Jia (Kaylee) is a member of a tribe named Iwi and based on the story, she lost her parents and her entire tribe was wiped out. Jia has a special bond with Kong, who is on a journey to find his true home and along that journey, Godzilla comes in the picture. The two titans- Godzilla and Kong clash.

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In the beginning of the movie, Jia appears with Kong. The camera zooms in her ear which seems to be a way to show that she is deaf.

Because of the special bond between Jia and Kong, Kong makes sure that Jia is protected and she is the only one that Kong trusts and communicates with. Jia is “adopted” by Ilene Andrews, played by a woman named Rebecca Hall, a scientist who has been protecting Kong. Jia and Ilene communicate with each other in American Sign Language too. So, when Jia communicates with Illene or with Kong, there are “burned in” yellow captions for their signing parts.

There was a "Deaf Bing" in the film in one scene when Kong was lying down on a boat. Jia was in the captain's "room," which was higher up and far away from where Kong was. Jia waved through the glass windows to get Kong's attention and then signed to him. That's a Deaf Bing -- we can talk through windows with long distances.

The film has another deaf star -- Millie Bobby Brown, who is best known for her breakout role in "Stranger Things."

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She has single-sided deafness. In the film she appears to speak and hear like a normal hearing person. On a general outlook for this movie, this means there are two deaf girls (Millie, deaf in one year and Kaylee) on the big screen.

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For the ASL translation part, based on the interview we had with Kaylee last Tuesday, she explained that she had her (deaf) parents and one other person help with the ASL translation to make sure it follows the ASL syntax rather than following word for word in English. The result of this was a beautiful combination of both, English subtitles with ASL translation.

Kaylee has proven herself to be a very talented actress. She carries herself well with adapting emotions and facial expressions to fit various situations. Remember that she had to act in front of a green screen with a laser (which is Kong). So, for her to be able to still relay those emotions really is talent! It is amazing because this is her first major acting gig.

Last night, there was a “red carpet” event in Kyle, Texas for Kaylee. Four movie theaters rooms were reserved and it was a private event. This event was sponsored by 4 groups: Sorenson, Convo, Deaf Board Gamers, and Texas School for the Deaf. There were 285 tickets and all were sold out. Many people were from the TSD community, family, and friends. Kaylee’s family shared with The Daily Moth some photos from last night.

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Wow, what a great turn out. We congratulate Kaylee for this huge success and wish her the best for her future. If you have not seen the movie, you can see it in the movie theater or through HBO Max.