After spending the first part of her day with her sons Preston and Jayden, Britney went to a Russian restaurant on Saturday evening and had dinner with Mel Gibson.

The troubled young singer and the actor, who had once been neighbors in a Malibu community, met for a two-hour group dinner at the Romanov restaurant in Studio City.

“It was exciting to have both of them here together,” says one restaurant source, according to People magazine. “We heard they hit it off and that Britney seemed excited.”

Dressed casually, in a green top, boots and jeans, Britney arrived at the restaurant accompanied by her friend Victoria. Mel Gibson came a little later with his wife and some friends. They joined the two girls in the restaurant’s luxurious private dining room.

Some rumors say that Mel might want to give Britney a role in a film, as he has used many inexperienced actors until now. Also, Britney certainly needs to do some new tricks, in order to boost her career.

But most media critics think Mel and his family secretly befriended Britney and they are now trying to help her through her troubles.

As Mel is very experienced in dealing with negative press, he could give her a piece of advice. He certainly feels compassionate about Britney, as he declared in the past.

“I feel compassion for someone like Britney,” Mel said. “She never gets a moment... Your heart goes out to her because I'm positive that, at her core, she's a good woman,” he said in 2006, as Ok! Magazine informs.

Mel might also want to bring Britney into his ultra-conservative Church of the Holy Family in Malibu. Britney was raised as a Southern Baptist, but in 2004 she dallied with Kabbalah. Recently, she seems to have erased the tattoo with Kabbalah symbols that she had on the back of her neck in that period.

However, at the dinner last night, Mel and Brit did not walk in or out the restaurant together, which shows that Gibson does not wish to spread his good deeds in the media, unlike other stars.