The state of Michigan approved a $4.9 million subsidy for the movie company that made "The Ides of March."

But one of the actors who worked on the film made what appeared to be a disparaging remark about the city of Detroit on Friday. Actor Paul Giamatti compared filming a movie in Detroit to "being in prison" on ABC television’s LIVE! With Regis and Kelly.

Giamatti was in the film, shot partly in Ann Arbor and Detroit. It also stars George Clooney.

Following the commercial break that came after his remark, Giamatti apologized and said he was referring to the job and not the city. A LIVE! With Regis and Kelly employee said that Giamatti clarified his comments and that he was not calling Detroit a prison, but instead saying that working on the movie was like being in prison.

"If it’s a prison, it is the only prison that pays you to stay there," said James Hohman, a fiscal policy analyst for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, referring to the $4.9 million subsidy that the film received.

"The Ides of March" was expected to spend $7.7 million in the state, according to the 2010 report from the Michigan Film Office.

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See also:

$72 Million in Film Credits Not Reported by Film Office

Firefighters or Mitch Albom's Movie Subsidy?

Hollywood Battles Michigan's New Budget Chief

Congressman-Elect Bill Huizenga discusses Michigan’s film subsidies

Film Subsidy Secrecy May Be Ending

Michael & Me

Lawmaker Says Special Tax Favors Are 'Cronyism' 

Analysis: Michael Moore Appears Ready to Take Film Subsidy for Anti-Subsidy Film

Cost to Replace Lost Jobs with Michigan Film Subsidies: $39.4 Billion

Sorry — Your Film Office Success Story Was Not Found

Michael Moore and Subsidies: A Love-Hate Story

Analysis of Michigan Film Subsidies: Two Years, $117m - and No Film Job Growth

Michael Moore's 'Greed' Message Doesn't Apply to His Film's Financiers

Mackinac Center Investigation Leads to Criminal Charge