Reed was born in Iceland, the middle of three children of a music teacher father and a dental hygienist mother. She grew up in Breiðholt, Reykjavík, and attended Ölduselsskóli. Aged 18, she was recruited by an Icelandic modeling agency, and moved to Mumbai to work as a model in India for two years. When she was 19/20, she settled in London, where she studied drama at Drama Centre London, graduating in 2010.
As of July 2017, Reed announced through social media that she is engaged to her boyfriend, America-based producer Sam Ritzenberg.
Reed's first performance was in 2009 in an Edinburgh Fringe production of Camus's Cross Purpose. A reviewer for the Edinburgh Guide considered it "expertly acted and finely paced." In April 2015, Reed co-starred in the world premiere of a new play, Scarlet, by Sam H Freeman at Southwark Playhouse exploring slut-shaming and cyberbullying and their emotional repercussions.

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