Gisele Yashar is a fictional character portrayed by Gal Gadot, who appears in The Fast and The Furious franchise. Introduced in the 2009 filmFast & Furious, she helps Dominic Toretto's team while forming a romantic relationship with team member Han Lue. The character is killed in the 2013 film Fast & Furious 6. Yashar was Gadot's first major film role, and American director Justin Lin hired her due to her past military experience. Gadot performed her own stunts while shooting the films. Media outlets characterized Yashar through her sexuality. Reactions to the character was mixed: some critics praised the representation of Yashar's sexuality and her relationship with Lue; while others felt her character was either unrealistic or represented a part of the franchise's poor treatment of women. Gadot's performance received positive feedback, and several commentators requested she reprise the role in a future film.
Appearances
In Fast & Furious, Gisele Yashar is introduced as a liaison for drug trafficker Auturo Braga. She develops romantic feelings for Dominic Toretto, but he rejects her advances. She advises him about the dangers involved in smuggling heroin across the Mexico–United States border to complete a deal with Braga. The drug exchange results in an ambush instigated by Braga, with Toretto protecting Yashar. She helps Toretto by providing him with the location of Braga's hideout in Mexico. Yashar becomes part of Toretto's team as a weapons expert in the 2011 film Fast Five. She is later revealed to be an ex-Mossad agent. She helps the team with a heist, during which she works closely with Han Lue, and the two develop a romantic relationship. Following the completion of the mission, Yashar and Lue are last shown speeding down the Autobahn, with Yashar sitting in his lap in a Lexus LFA. At the start of Fast & Furious 6, Yashar and Lue are living together in Hong Kong. Toretto recruits the couple to prevent a heist planned by Owen Shaw, which could potentially kill millions of people. For the mission Yashar draws on her Mossad experience with interrogation, weapons, and retrieval. While attempting to stop a plane, she is left hanging from the back of a Range Rover. Lue attempts to rescue her, but Adolfson, a member of Shaw's gang, uses the opportunity to try and kill him. Yashar lets go of Lue's hand to shoot Adolfson, and she falls to her death. Lue later kills Adolfson in revenge for Yashar's death. At the end of the film, Roman Pearce says a blessing in Yashar's honor during grace. In the 2015 film Furious 7, a photo of Yashar is shown in Lue's personal belongings, and it is later placed in his coffin as part of his memorial service. In a deleted scene, it is revealed that Yashar had found Letty Ortiz after she was nearly killed by Fenix Calderon and taken her to the hospital. Ortiz asked Yashar why she saved her, and Yashar responded: "Maybe you are the one saving me."
Development
Gisele Yashar was Gal Gadot's first major film role, and the actress felt that it had a major impact on her career. She said that her unsuccessful experiences when trying out for Bond girlCamille Montes in the 22nd James Bond filmQuantum of Solace had led to other auditions, specifically the one for Yashar. Gadot was cast by American director Justin Lin. The actress said that her background in the military helped with the audition, explaining: "I think the main reason was that Justin really liked that I was in the Israeli military, and he wanted to use my knowledge of weapons." In 2017, Gadot also thanked Vin Diesel for his input over her selection for the role. Vanity Fair's Yohana Desta identified Yashar as "a breakthrough part that gave Gadot some mainstream recognition". When discussing her initial response to The Fast and The Furious franchise, Gadot said: "We don't do those kind of movies , with those kind of standards". She performed her own stunts during the films, saying: "The adrenaline was just incredible and I enjoyed being able to do the stuff that in real life you can't." Gadot explained that she wanted to feel like a "tough girl" while shooting her scenes. For the character's return in Fast & Furious 6, Gadot told Lin that she wanted Yashar to "be more of a badass", and was given more stunt work for the film. Some of the stunts involved jumping from a moving motorcycle onto a Jeep, being suspended in a harness, and riding a Ducati Monster motorcycle. Media outlets also characterized Yashar through her sexuality; Fuse's Bianca Gracie referred to her as "sensual and intimidating", and The Stranger's Erik Henriksen called her a "villainous seductress".
Critical reception
Gisele Yashar has received a mixed response from film critics. Decider's Meghan O'Keefe praised Yashar as a new type of female character for The Fast and The Furious franchise, writing that she provided a more "sophisticated, and unapologetically femme vibe" when compared to the rougher Ortiz. O'Keefe responded positively to Yashar's use of her sexuality and femininity as a tactic to manipulate men, as well as to her romance and partnership with Lue. Nerdist News's Sydney Bucksbaum also identified the character's relationship with Lue as a highlight, writing that they became "one of the most iconic couples from all the movies". Some commentators had a more negative response to the character. The A.V. Club's Tom Breihan felt that Yashar's transformation from "a drug lord's envoy to a former Mossad agent and a badass killer" was part of how the franchise gave "implausible makeovers" to certain characters. IndieWire's Kate Erbland included Yashar's death as an example of the franchise's poor treatment of women; she explained that female characters, such as Yashar, "primarily exist to round out the storylines of the films' male characters, often as love interests" and are rarely brought into focus as individuals. Gadot's performance received positive feedback from critics. In a 2017 article, Heavy.com's Brendan Marrow listed Yashar as one of Gadot's best performances prior to her starring role as Wonder Woman in the 2017 film of the same name. O’Keefe of Decider described Gadot and her character as the "secret weapon" of The Fast and The Furious franchise, praising the actress for her "totally kickass contribution to the bonkers, high-octane, super-charged ". O'Keefe described Gadot's performance as "balanc unbridled badassery with unabashedly feminine charm". Joe Reid, also writing for Decider, recommended that Yashar should be revived for future installments of the franchise, but questioned if the producers could afford to have Gadot return for another film. Bucksbaum campaigned for the character's return, and wrote that she could likely be featured in a future film through a flashback sequence.
