Drake Bell Says Austin Butler Has Elvis Look But Vocals are Tough Call

Drake Bell thinks Austin Butler has all the right features to play Elvis Presley on the big screen ... but his biggest challenge will be singing like the king of rock 'n roll.

We got the "Drake & Josh" star in New York City after news broke Austin got the nod to play EP in Baz Luhrmann's movie about the icon. Drake, a self-proclaimed Elvis fanatic, says it's going to be a tough call whether his fellow Nickelodeon alum should attempt to really sing Elvis classics, or just lip-sync.

He's a bit of an expert on the topic, because Drake rattled off several other actors who were in Austin's shoes -- Kevin Spacey as Bobby Darin, Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury and Taron Egerton as Elton John.

Vocal abilities aside ... Drake says he's glad Austin got the part -- beating out Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, Harry Styles, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and a last minute push from G-Eazy -- because he's got the right look.

Drake's a little bummed he never got a casting call though ... and ya gotta see his Elvis impersonation!