When the producer Simon Fuller reached out to Lupita Nyong’o to gauge her interest in narrating his latest project — a wildlife documentary directed by John Downer — the Kenyan-Mexican actress was intrigued. But once she watched the first two episodes, she was sold.

Ms. Nyong'o understood that these shows can be mundane and repetitive, telling the same stories of how animals live in the wild. “Serengeti” stood out because of its attention to specific animals and their day-to-day lives, which includes fighting within their clans, searching for love and trying to survive when outsiders are ready to attack.

The documentary, which was filmed on a game reserve in Tanzania over two years, feels more like a dramatized TV show than a documentary, but drama is part of its appeal. It follows several animals in the park, including Kali, a lioness who has been exiled from her pride and is struggling to raise her cubs alone; Bakari, a baboon who is trying to figure out how to win back a female baboon’s affection after another male gets her attention; and Zalika, a hyena who becomes queen of her clan sooner than she expected. The British actor John Boyega narrates the British version of the show, which premiered on BBC One earlier this month.

Over the course of six episodes, viewers get to know the animals “more from their own perspective” as Ms. Nyong'o described, and become invested in their journeys and experiences, much in the way people become attached to human characters on other shows and movies.