Alia Shawkat quashes rumours that she is dating Brad Pitt

Alia Shawkat has denied rumours that she is dating Brad Pitt. The "Arrested Development" actress told that she and the "Ocean's Eleven" star are "just friends."

"We're not dating. We're just friends. I've gotten press, but not like that," said Alia Shawkat. "Not so uncontrollable," she added in an interview with Vulture published on Friday.

The 31-year-old actress has finally addressed the reports claiming she and Brad Pitt, 56, were dating. Romance rumours sparked when she and the Oscar winner were spotted hanging out together at the "L.A. on Fire" art exhibition in November.

Pitt and Shawkat were spotted together at comedian Mike Birbiglia's one-man show, a Thundercat concert and then at Kanye West's "Nebuchadnezzar" opera show. But Shawkat has always maintained that her relationship with Pitt remains platonic.

The "Search Party" star met Pitt through director Spike Jonze. "We just became friends, and Brad introduced me to his group of friends, and it grew from there," she said.

"To them it's like, 'We don't get it! This girl is weird! She's so different! Why are they hanging out?'. You get too close to the prom king, and all of a sudden, everyone's like, 'Well, who is this bi***?'" she said.

"All my friends were like 'What's going on?' and sending me photos," she recalled. "I just felt overwhelmed. It's that feeling of being naked in school, like, Oh my God, everyone's looking at me," she added. Shawkat has been working in the industry ever since she was nine. But, since her association with Pitt she has been receiving a lot of attention.

Sources told People earlier that Pitt and Shawkat's relationship didn't go beyond friendship. One source said the two "are just friends — absolutely nothing romantic is going on." While another said that the actor has numerous friends who share his interest in art.

"Brad loves the art world. He has a large group of artist friends that he hangs out with. Several are women, but he isn't dating them. He just loves surrounding himself with good friends," the insider said adding that Pitt is "very much about keeping friends as friends."