Hollywood actor George Clooney had said he tries to cope with the “suffocation” of fame by using his high profile to highlight global injustices. Clooney was speaking at an international forum on genocide prevention in in Armenia this weekend, where he will also hand out the the inaugural US Aurora Prize.

George ClooneyGeorge Clooney had said he tries to cope with the “suffocation” of fame by doing charity work.

Clooney said he began tying to use his fame to highlight global issues after reading about atrocities being committed in Sudan’s Darfur region in the early 2000s. “Fame has an interesting element to it but if you tend to be followed round by a camera then you can feel suffocated at times,” the actor said.

More: George Clooney Blasts Donald Trump In New Interview

"I thought it might be effective if I went to those places and got those cameras to follow me and try and amplify these stories of NGOs who were doing such hard work, such dangerous work.” In 2008 Clooney and fellow actors Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Brad Pitt founded charity Not On Our Watch to campaign for human rights around the world. 

"I was lucky to be born where I was and not born as a young woman who was taken by Boko Haram,” he continued. “It was lucky - luck is genetic and time and place. That luck needs to be spread. What I find beautiful about what we're doing this weekend is we're looking at it, we're pointing at it, we're amplifying it.”

More: George Clooney Snaps At Reporter Over Refugee Activism

“There is an awful lot the world needs, not a handout but a hand-up.” At the event Clooney will also present the $1 million Aurora Prize For Inspiring Humanity, at a ceremony which will celebrate individuals who risk their lives for others. The winner of the grant will also have an opportunity to nominate an organisation for another $1 million prize.