Brad Pitt Taking Cues From George Clooney In Dating Neri Oxman

George Clooney may have inspired pal Brad Pitt to date rumored girlfriend Neri Oxman.

An insider who is familiar with the matter revealed to People on Thursday that Pitt decided to pursue Oxman after seeing the beautiful romance between Clooney and wife Amal Alamuddin. “Brad has seen how happy and different Amal has made his friend,” the insider said. “It has given him something to think about.”

The insider then noted how it took sometime before Pitt could get back in the dating scene, but it’s worth it considering Oxman is really his type. “It took him a long time to date, but he is now,” the insider said. “He likes women who challenge him in every way, especially in the intellect department.”

Oxman is an architect and professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A source, who described the 42-year-old as “genius and gorgeous,” said she is the perfect match for the 54-year-old actor who really likes Clooney’s human-rights lawyer wife.

Aside from being Pitt’s type, Oxman motivates the “World War Z” actor to do what he loves because they share the same passion for architecture. “One of the things Brad has said all along is that he wants to do more architecture and design work. He loves this … and knows he has a talent for it,” another source said.

A Pitt source exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this week that the actor is “absolutely smitten” with the MIT professor. The source added that the two almost right away established a connection after meeting each other. Now that Pitt is dating Oxman, the source said he wants to do everything to keep things about them private.

Things appear to be doing well for the two. As previously reported, Pitt and Oxman prefer to hang out in the latter’s apartment. When the actor feels like it, he does the cooking for Oxman. At times, they also order food in from Oxman’s favorite restaurants nearby.

Pitt has yet to personally confirm the dating rumors. He appears to be keeping mum on the issue since he is still working on divorce and custody terms with ex-wife Angelina Jolie. However, he did step out publicly this week as he was spotted by Just Jared attending The Los Angeles Dodgers Game at Dodger Stadium this past Tuesday.