Amal Clooney reflects on fame in first U.S. TV interview

NEW YORK, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Amal Clooney intends to use her fame for a good cause.

The 37-year-old British-Lebanese lawyer discussed life in the spotlight with NBC News in her first-ever U.S. television interview Thursday. Clooney, who married actor George Clooney in 2014, said her newfound celebrity has helped bring attention to her human rights work.

"I think it's wonderful that celebrities would choose to spend their time or energy or the spotlight that they have to raise awareness about these causes," she said. "I don't really see myself in the same way because I'm still doing the same job that I used to do before."

"I think there is a sense of responsibility that comes with [fame]," she acknowledged. "I think I'm exercising it in an appropriate manner by continuing to do this kind of work and engaging with the media on issues that I think are important."

Clooney is presently representing Mohamed Nasheed, the pro-democratic Maldivian president who was forced out of office in 2012 and subsequently jailed. The lawyer visited Washington, D.C., this week to speak with policy makers about the political crisis.

"Democracy is dead in the Maldives," she declared in the interview. "I mean, literally, if there were an election now there would be no one to run against the president. Every opposition leader is either behind bars or being pursued by the government through the courts."

Clooney previously worked on high-profile cases involving WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, among others. George Clooney gushed about the international law specialist to Entertainment Tonight in May, naming several reasons why he fell for his wife.

"She's an amazing human being," he lauded. "And she's caring. And she also happens to be one of the smartest people I've ever met. And she's got a great sense of humor. There's a number of reasons why."

Clooney and George Clooney looked the happy couple at the Los Angeles premiere of Our Brand is Crisis in October. The 54-year-old American actor will next star in Hail, Caesar! with Josh Brolin and is also slated for Money Monster with Julia Roberts.