His education was fully funded by scholarships and through the personal assistance of the Academy Award winner and former Juilliard alumni Robin Williams.
[5] Þorvaldur had his first leading role, in the feature film Svartur á leik (English: Black's game), a year after his graduation from The Juilliard School.
[9] Þorvaldur played Bright Eyes, an Eastern European taken as a slave as a young boy who became a vicious assassin in the Ottoman Army.
[10] Additionally, he has participated in numerous theater productions, including receiving a Gríma Award nomination for his portrayal of Christopher Boone in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, staged at the Reykjavík City Theatre.
[12] He has also received various awards and honors for his work in the field of acting, such as the American Scandinavian Foundation Cultural Grant[13] and a nomination as an Outstanding Young Icelander by the JCI organization.