An EV "needs" the electric actuator to replicate the park position in a conventional automatic transmission.
Noteworthy fact: most early automatic transmissions had no park position. Like a manual, you put them in neutral and set the parking brake instead.
"Once you can do that why run the cable?"
In case of electronic/hydraulic failure when driving. If you want to replace the park position of a transmission, then they should do that with something that actually mimics that. You could use a sprocket and pawl on the motor output shaft.
Some EVs, not all. My Lightning has a parking pawl.
An EV "needs" the electric actuator to replicate the park position in a conventional automatic transmission. The motor has no mechanical brake so the parking brake is automatically applied via software. Once you can do that why run the cable?
There's som minor addition value in sharing the system with ICE models that don't need it and programming them to cycle the system from time to time so that they don't rust up and stop working like cables are inclined to in automatic equipped cars.