Reuten was born in Bussum, Netherlands, the daughter of a Dutch father, Economist and Politician Geert Reuten, and an Italian mother, who was born in Benabbio near Bagni di Lucca. She studied acting at the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Amsterdam. During the last year of her studies, she assumed leading roles in Dutch film and theatre productions. Early in her career, she won the ‘Shooting Star Award’ of the Berlinale (Berlin Film Festival) for her portrayal of Lotte in the film Twin Sisters, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Subsequent roles included In Bruges with Colin Farrell, Hotel Lux with Bully Herbig, and The American alongside George Clooney, as well as the political thriller Waffenstillstand (‘Ceasefire’). Other films include De Trip van Teetje (Tate's Voyage), Kruimeltje (Little Crumb), Rosenstraße, Una Bellezza Che Non Lascia Scampo (‘An Inescapable Beauty’), and Iedereen beroemd! (Everybody’s Famous!), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Reuten's television work includes Hidden (BBC, Great Britain), Restless (BBC, Great Britain), and Sleeper Cell (Showtime, USA). She has performed in Johan Simons’ production Fall of the Gods at the Salzburg Festival and the Ruhr Triennial, as well as in Rufus Norris’ Blood Wedding at the Almeida Theatre in London, alongside Gael Garcia Bernal.